# Show HN: P2P (POC) of the ACP for decentralized agent communication

> Source: <https://github.com/skorotkiewicz/acp-p2p>
> Published: 2026-05-29 02:22:29+00:00

a peer-to-peer implementation of the Agent Client Protocol (ACP) for decentralized agent communication.

```
# clone the repository
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/skorotkiewicz/acp-p2p
cd acp-p2p

# build with ACP features enabled
cargo build --release --features acp
# or
just build-all
# run the agent
./target/release/agent --alias alice --caps rust,math
```

## examples

```
# connect to a specific peer at startup
just run --peer /ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/12345/p2p/<peer-id> --alias alice

# generate ephemeral identity (don't persist to file)
just run --ephemeral --alias test

# disable mDNS discovery
just run --no-mdns --alias isolated

# custom listen address
just run --listen /ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/9000
```

the agent is configured via command-line arguments:

`--alias <name>`

- human-readable alias for this agent`--caps <list>`

- comma-separated capability tags (e.g. rust,math,python)`--peer <multiaddr>`

- peer multiaddr to connect to at startup`--ephemeral`

- generate a new in-memory identity (don't persist)`--no-mdns`

- disable automatic peer discovery`--listen <multiaddr>`

- custom listen address (can be repeated)

once running, the agent accepts interactive commands:

`ask <question>`

- broadcast a question to all peers`ask --caps rust,math <question>`

- ask agents with specific capabilities`ask @rust,math <question>`

- short form for capability routing`acp <method> <json-params>`

- broadcast ACP JSON-RPC payload (requires acp feature)`dial <multiaddr>`

- manually connect to a peer`peers`

- list known peers`quit`

- exit the mesh

## features

- peer-to-peer networking using libp2p
- agent client protocol (ACP) implementation
- support for gossipsub messaging
- automatic peer discovery via mDNS
- async runtime with Tokio
- command-line interface with clap

contributions are welcome! please feel free to submit a pull request.

MIT license