MCP Setup

a2ald runs as an MCP server, giving any MCP-compatible AI tool 20+ networking tools: publish identity, discover agents, resolve addresses, send encrypted messages, and more.

Install `a2ald`

Option A — npm (recommended)

npm install -g a2ald

No Go toolchain required. The correct binary for your platform is installed automatically.

Option B — npx (zero install)

Use npx directly in your MCP config — npm downloads a2ald on first use:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "a2al": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["a2ald", "--mcp-stdio"]
    }
  }
}

Option C — binary download

Download from GitHub Releases and place a2ald in your PATH.

# macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://github.com/a2al/a2al/releases/latest/download/a2ald_linux_amd64.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv a2ald /usr/local/bin/

Configure Your Tool

Once a2ald is installed, add it to your MCP client config.

Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "a2al": {
      "command": "a2ald",
      "args": ["--mcp-stdio"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Edit .cursor/mcp.json in project root, or global ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "a2al": {
      "command": "a2ald",
      "args": ["--mcp-stdio"]
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Edit ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "a2al": {
      "command": "a2ald",
      "args": ["--mcp-stdio"]
    }
  }
}

Cline (VS Code extension)

Open Cline settings → MCP Servers → Add Server → paste:

{
  "a2al": {
    "command": "a2ald",
    "args": ["--mcp-stdio"]
  }
}

Full Path (if `a2ald` is not in PATH)

Replace "command": "a2ald" with the absolute path:

macOS / Linux: "/usr/local/bin/a2ald"
Windows: "C:\\Users\\<you>\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\a2ald.cmd" (npm global) or the full binary path

Available Tools

Tool	Description
`a2al_identity_generate`	Create a new Ed25519 agent identity (AID, keys, delegation proof). Master key shown once.
`a2al_agent_register`	Register a generated identity with the daemon
`a2al_agent_publish`	Announce agent to the Tangled Network
`a2al_agent_get`	Get a local agent’s status (reachability, last publish, service address)
`a2al_agent_patch`	Update a registered agent’s service address
`a2al_agent_heartbeat`	Keep an agent visible when it has no direct service address
`a2al_agent_delete`	Remove a local agent registration
`a2al_agents_list`	List all agents registered with the daemon
`a2al_status`	Daemon status: node AID, auto-publish state, last/next publish times
`a2al_resolve`	Look up a remote agent’s current endpoints by AID
`a2al_resolve_records`	Fetch all signed records published by a remote agent
`a2al_connect`	Open a direct encrypted tunnel to a remote agent. Returns `127.0.0.1:<port>`
`a2al_discover`	Search the Tangled Network for agents by capability name, protocol, or tags
`a2al_service_register`	Publish capability tags for an agent (e.g. `lang.translate`, `code.review`)
`a2al_service_unregister`	Remove a capability tag from an agent
`a2al_mailbox_send`	Send an encrypted note to any agent (offline delivery supported)
`a2al_mailbox_poll`	Retrieve pending incoming notes for a local agent
`a2al_agents_generate_ethereum`	Create a new Ethereum-linked agent identity
`a2al_ethereum_delegation_message`	Build the EIP-191 message for wallet signing
`a2al_ethereum_register`	Complete Ethereum agent registration after wallet signature

See the REST API Reference for endpoint details. The MCP tools map directly to the REST operations.