Show HN: Nirnam – a browser-native message bus and AI agent framework for MFEs

A three-layer hybrid message bus for micro-frontend communication and browser-native AI agents.

Nirnam gives every script on a page — Module Federation remotes, iframes, Web Workers, plain <script>

tags — a shared message bus without a backend. It handles pub/sub, request-reply, streaming, agent registration, and MCP transport, all routed through a SharedWorker.

Three layers, one API:

You always call createBus()

— Nirnam picks the right layer automatically.

npm install @palinc/nirnam

Full usage guide and API reference →

import { createBus } from '@palinc/nirnam';

const bus = createBus();

// One MFE handles cart requests
bus.handle('cart:total', async ({ items }) => {
  return { total: items.reduce((s, i) => s + i.price, 0) };
});

// Another MFE calls it
const { total } = await bus.request('cart:total', { items: [{ price: 9.99 }] });
Library/         @palinc/nirnam source + tests
Examples/
  transport/               pub/sub · request-reply · streaming basics (Vite)
  transport-with-persistence/  message replay via IndexedDB (Rsbuild)
  react-mfe/               two React MFEs sharing state (Module Federation)
  agents/                  chat · filesystem · pipeline agents (Rsbuild)
  cross-tab-agent/         host tab runs LLM; other tabs proxy via bus (Vite)
  mcp-agent/               Document Q&A with MCP servers + Ollama (Rsbuild + MF)
  static-worker/           raw SharedWorker without MFEs (Vite)
  angular-react/           Angular host + React remote (planned)

Each example is self-contained. Pick one:

cd Examples/transport
npm install
npm run dev

The mcp-agent

example needs all three apps running:

cd Examples/mcp-agent/ollama-agent && npm install && npm run dev  # :3001
cd Examples/mcp-agent/scribe-agent && npm install && npm run dev  # :3002
cd Examples/mcp-agent/host          && npm install && npm run dev  # :3000
cd Library
npm install
npm run build        # one-off build
npm run build:watch  # watch mode
npm test             # jest test suite
npm run test:coverage

The library is built with Rollup into 12 entry points (ESM + CJS + .d.ts

per subpath export). Source is in Library/src/

.

The simplest starting point. A single-page vanilla JS app demonstrating all three message patterns: pub/sub, request-reply, and streaming. No framework, no bundler magic.

Extends the transport example with IndexedDB persistence. Late-joining subscribers can replay the last N messages on subscribe.

Two independently-deployed React apps (host + remote) that share state through the bus using Module Federation. Shows useNirnam

and useNirnamPublish

.

Three agents in one app — a chat agent, a filesystem agent with File System Access API tools, and a pipeline of two agents where one feeds into the other. Uses the Rsbuild build plugin for Layer 3.

One "host" tab registers a scope: 'page'

agent that owns the LLM + tools. Any other tab creates an AgentProxy

and gets the same chat interface routed over the static SharedWorker. Open two tabs and chat from either.

Three Module Federation apps. Two remotes (ollama-agent

, scribe-agent

) expose React components that also spin up MCP servers over NirnamMCPTransport

. The host connects MCP clients to both and orchestrates a document Q&A workflow.

Raw SharedWorker setup without any MFE framework — useful if you want to understand Layer 3 in isolation.