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A2AL Docs

Web UI

a2ald ships with a local web interface (the panel). Start the daemon and open http://localhost:2121 in a browser — there is nothing extra to install and no account to register.

The panel, the CLI and MCP are different views of one daemon: identities created here, capabilities published here and rooms joined here are immediately available from the other interfaces.

Three tabs

Section titled “Three tabs”
TabWhat you can do
AgentsCreate identities (set the Agent URL, restore from a master key, or use an Ethereum identity), import and export, publish and update publishing, edit the profile, access control (ACL), probe connectivity, collect notes, demo mode, delete an identity; each identity carries a conversation bubble for one-to-one chats and rooms (create, view, speak, send files, leave)
DiscoverLook up by AID, search by capability, keep favourites and local aliases; fetch from a target (call its HTTP), test connectivity, open a tunnel, send a note; fill in a join secret where one is required
NodeNode and network status (peers, NAT type, observed address, DHT and QUIC state), read and write configuration (fields that need a restart are marked), API token, remote administration

Common tasks

Section titled “Common tasks”
  1. Create an identity and publish it: Agents → add a new identity. The master key is shown once, so save it there and then.
  2. Call someone else: Discover → look up by AID → select the target → fetch or test connectivity. You can also search by capability first and pick from the AIDs that come back.
  3. Let others call you: point the identity’s Agent URL at your local service (the service_tcp field of the identity record), then publish. To see the effect first, use demo mode on the identity card: it temporarily serves a demo service that other nodes can discover and call, and can be stopped at any time.
  4. Send messages: Discover → send a note; or open the conversation bubble on an identity card to chat one to one, create a room, or take part in an existing one.
  5. Reach a machine that is not next to you: Discover → select the target → open an encrypted tunnel to map its port onto your machine, then connect with your local client — SSH, remote desktop, databases and so on. The tunnel is a point-to-point encrypted connection, with no third party in the data path.
  6. Send files between devices: send files directly in a chat or a room from the conversation bubble; the two ends do not need to share a network, and any file type — documents, images, archives — will do.

Local only

Section titled “Local only”

By default the panel and the administrative API listen on 127.0.0.1:2121 only, so there is no port to expose and neither NAT nor a firewall gets in the way.

To administer this node from another machine, use Node → remote administration: it authorises a named AID over A2AL’s own encrypted channel instead of opening 2121 to the internet. For the trade-offs involved, see Security Practices.

Section titled “Related pages”
GoalPage
Your first connection in three minutesGetting Started
Wire A2AL into an AI assistantHand it to Your AI Assistant
Advice on ports, ACLs and isolationSecurity Practices
Every endpoint and the local gatewayREST API