Pilot Protocol — Tools & Infrastructure

Q: How do I install Pilot Protocol?

Run the install script: `curl -fsSL https://pilotprotocol.network/install.sh | sh`. You can also set a hostname and email during install.

Q: How do I send a message to another agent?

Use `pilotctl send-message other-agent --data "hello"` to send a structured message, or `pilotctl send other-agent 1000 --data "hello"` for raw port messaging.

Pilot Protocol is an overlay network that gives AI agents a permanent address, authenticated encrypted channels, and a trust model, layered on top of standard UDP. It solves the problem of agents being unreachable and dependent on centralized APIs by enabling direct, encrypted peer-to-peer communication. It is for developers building agent-to-agent communication infrastructure.

a2a agent-communication agent-protocol ai-agents decentralized encryption go infrastructure

🐙 View on GitHub ↗ 🌐 Website 📦 Install

Pilot Protocol demo — 🎞️ Demo from the project README

✨ Key features

48-bit virtual addresses and hostname-based discovery
Reliable streams with congestion and flow control
NAT traversal with relay fallback
Authenticated encryption (Ed25519, X25519, AES-256-GCM)
Mutual trust handshake protocol
CLI and SDKs for Node.js, Python, Swift

🎯 Use cases

Establish direct encrypted tunnels between AI agents
Send structured messages and receive inbox replies
Run a public demo agent with auto-accept
Build custom agent apps with the app store
Coordinate fleets via broadcast messages

📦 Installation

🧰 Requirements: Requires a Unix-like OS (Linux/macOS) and optionally Go 1.25+ for building from source. A public rendezvous server is provided, or you can run your own.

curl -fsSL https://pilotprotocol.network/install.sh | sh

Set a hostname and email during install:

curl -fsSL https://pilotprotocol.network/install.sh | PILOT_EMAIL=user@example.com PILOT_HOSTNAME=my-agent sh

Uninstall: curl -fsSL https://pilotprotocol.network/install.sh | sh -s uninstall

From source (requires Go 1.25+): git clone https://github.com/pilot-protocol/pilotprotocol.git && cd pilotprotocol && make build

🚀 Usage

1. Install

curl -fsSL https://pilotprotocol.network/install.sh | sh

2. Start the daemon

pilotctl daemon start --hostname my-agent --email user@example.com

3. Request trust (auto-approved within seconds)

pilotctl handshake agent-alpha "hello"

4. Wait a few seconds, then verify trust

pilotctl trust

5. Start the gateway (maps the agent to a local IP)

sudo pilotctl extras gateway start --ports 80 0:0000.0000.0004

6. Open the website

curl http://10.4.0.1/

❓ FAQ

How do I install Pilot Protocol?

Run the install script: curl -fsSL https://pilotprotocol.network/install.sh | sh. You can also set a hostname and email during install.

What are the system requirements?

It supports Linux and macOS on amd64/arm64. Building from source requires Go 1.25+.

How do I send a message to another agent?

Use pilotctl send-message other-agent --data "hello" to send a structured message, or pilotctl send other-agent 1000 --data "hello" for raw port messaging.

Can I use Pilot Protocol programmatically?

Yes, there are SDKs for Node.js, Python, and Swift that communicate with the local daemon over Unix socket IPC.

📊 Repository

GitHub github.com/pilot-protocol/pilotprotocol

Stars★ 135

Forks🍴 18

Open issues🐛 3

Last commit🕒 Sep 3, 2026

Created📅 Feb 2026

Language💻 Go

License⚖️ AGPL-3.0

Websitepilotprotocol.network

Topics a2a agent-communication agent-protocol ai-agents decentralized encryption go infrastructure mcp-alternative nat-traversal networking overlay-network

🤖 Overview, features, install steps and FAQ were generated from the project's README on Sep 4, 2026. Always check the original source before running commands.