CodeGrid — agent operating manual
CodeGrid runs many coding agents side by side on an infinite 2D canvas. Each
pane is one process (claude, codex, gemini, cursor-agent, grok, or a
shell) with its own working directory, git branch, and stable session_id. The
agent bus lets any pane discover, read, and message any other pane locally.
This skill is the umbrella entry point. Two references cover the full surface:
-
Operating CodeGrid — the mental model (canvas / pane / workspace / agent / bus), MCP tools (
list_agents,read_pane,message_agent), the control-socket JSON-RPC API (agent_list,agent_read,agent_send,open_folder,new_session,new_workspace), thecodegrid://deep-link scheme, and an operating playbook with recipes. -
Agent-bus collaboration — the
read → message → readprotocol, identifying agents by role andsession_id, orchestration patterns (delegate, review, pipeline, parallel fan-out, monitor, debate), etiquette and scope safety, loop/runaway prevention, failure recovery, and worked end-to-end examples.
When to load which reference
| You're about to… | Load |
|---|---|
| Discover what's running, open a folder, spawn a session, or drive CodeGrid from outside | using-codegrid |
| Hand work to / consult / review with another agent already running in CodeGrid | codegrid-agent-bus |
| Both | Load using-codegrid first, then codegrid-agent-bus |
Quickstart (inside a CodeGrid pane)
list_agents() # discover panes (session_id, role, status)
read_pane(<session_id>) # see what they're doing — always safe
message_agent(<session_id>, "[from <you>] <self-contained request>")
… wait, then read_pane(<session_id>) for the reply.
Quickstart (from outside CodeGrid, e.g. another tool)
SOCK="$(cat ~/.codegrid/socket-path 2>/dev/null || echo ~/.codegrid/socket)"
printf '%s\n' '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"agent_list"}' | nc -U "$SOCK"
# Or deep-link the installed app:
open "codegrid://open?path=/abs/path/to/repo&type=codex"
open "codegrid://new"
Install
install the codegrid skill from https://github.com/BankrBot/skills/tree/main/codegrid
Source
- Canonical source of truth lives in the CodeGrid repo under
skills/(skills/using-codegrid/SKILL.md,skills/codegrid-agent-bus/SKILL.md). This Bankr Skills provider is a published copy kept in sync. - App download + full docs: https://codegrid.app.
- Token (Base):
0x6B456E66524aEC1792013eF9DFE87e3F84311ba3— see https://codegrid.app/token.
Safety defaults an agent should respect
- Read before you write.
read_paneis free; never message a busy agent. - Address by
session_id, never pane number — pane numbers shift. - Be explicit about scope. Other agents may be in YOLO/autonomous mode and will act on whatever you send. Say "propose only, do not edit files" when you want analysis.
- One message, then wait. Multiple messages interleave into the target's input box and corrupt it.
- Bound debates and don't spawn unbounded helpers. Converge and report to the user.
- Stay local. Everything is same-machine IPC; there is no remote bus.
Full guidance: see the two reference files.