walkie-talkie

Walkie-Talkie

Your Claude Code sessions can finally talk to each other.

Quick Start · How It Works · Commands · Channels · Cross-Runtime · Event Bus

Quick Start

Requires Bun.

# 1. Install the plugin in Claude Code
/plugin marketplace add thebrownproject/walkie-talkie
/plugin install walkie-talkie@walkie-talkie

# 2. Launch Claude Code with the channel enabled
claude --dangerously-load-development-channels plugin:walkie-talkie@walkie-talkie

Then tell Claude:

> start the broker and join as frontend-developer

That's it. Claude starts the broker automatically and joins the network. Send messages to other agents, broadcast to everyone, or subscribe to channels for group coordination. See Channels below.

Tip: Add an alias for convenience:

alias claude-wt="claude --dangerously-load-development-channels plugin:walkie-talkie@walkie-talkie"

How It Works

Broker (localhost:9900)     ← standalone HTTP server, routes messages
  ↕                         ← polling every 2s
Plugin (MCP server)         ← runs inside each Claude Code session
  ↕                         ← stdio (JSON-RPC)
Claude Code                 ← receives messages as <channel> tags

1. Broker runs on localhost:9900. Manages session registry and message routing.
2. Plugin runs inside each Claude Code session as an MCP channel server.
3. Plugin polls the broker for messages and pushes them into Claude via channel notifications.
4. Claude receives messages inline and responds using MCP tools.

Commands

Command	Description
/walkie-talkie:start	Start broker or check status
/walkie-talkie:stop	Stop the broker
/walkie-talkie:join <name> [role] [channels...]	Register this session with a name
/walkie-talkie:list	Show all connected sessions
/walkie-talkie:send <target> <msg>	Send a direct message
/walkie-talkie:broadcast <msg>	Message all sessions
/walkie-talkie:subscribe <channel>	Subscribe to a channel
/walkie-talkie:unsubscribe <channel>	Leave a channel
/walkie-talkie:publish <channel> <msg>	Publish to a channel
/walkie-talkie:update-role <role>	Update your role description

Messaging

Three ways to send messages:

Method	Scope	Use Case
send	One session	Direct messages, questions, replies
broadcast	All sessions	Announcements, status updates
publish	Channel subscribers	Group coordination, scoped updates

Messages support reply_to for threading conversations.

Channels

Channels are group frequencies. Tune in on join or anytime during a session.

> join the dashboard-team channel as frontend-dev. your role is building the UI

Channels are groups you subscribe to for targeted messages. The name identifies your session (used when sending direct messages). The role describes what you're doing (visible when others list sessions).

Now publish to dashboard-team reaches only subscribers. Sessions can tune into multiple channels.

• subscribe / unsubscribe to tune in or out of channels
• publish sends to everyone on the channel (except sender)
• Channels are created automatically when someone subscribes

Cross-Runtime

The broker is plain HTTP. Any runtime can participate:

# Register
curl -X POST localhost:9900/register \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"tests","role":"test runner","runtime":"codex"}'

# Poll for messages
curl localhost:9900/poll/tests

# Send a message
curl -X POST localhost:9900/send \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"from":"tests","to":"backend","content":"All tests passing"}'

Works with Codex, scripts, cron jobs, Python, or anything that can make HTTP requests. No SDK needed.

Event Bus

Walkie-Talkie doubles as a lightweight event bus. Any script can publish events that your Claude agents receive in real-time. Each publisher must register its sender name before sending messages.

Git hook — notify agents when code is committed:

# .git/hooks/post-commit
MSG=$(git log -1 --pretty=format:"%h %s")
curl -s -X POST localhost:9900/register \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"git","role":"post-commit hook","runtime":"script","force":true}'
curl -s -X POST localhost:9900/publish \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"from\":\"git\",\"channel\":\"commits\",\"content\":\"New commit: $MSG\"}"