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), the codegrid:// deep-link scheme, and an operating playbook with recipes.

• Agent-bus collaboration — the

read → message → read protocol, identifying agents by role and session_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)

text
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)

bash
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

text
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_pane is 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.