Nats Chat

[!WARNING] This project sits somewhere between toy and tool. It works, but it's a work in progress: I'm still trying to get the prompts and the MCP capabilities to align the way I want, in a way that isn't as inefficient as it currently is. Expect rough edges and breaking changes.

What this is

Two parts that share one NATS JetStream backend:

• nats-chat — the MCP server. Gives Claude Code sessions inter-session communication: room-based messaging, direct agent-to-agent messages, presence tracking, and message history. Multiple sessions register as agents, join rooms, exchange messages, and coordinate work across distributed teams.
• nats-chat-console — a human TUI client (Go, in console/). A standalone terminal UI that connects directly to the same NATS server as a first-class human participant: it joins rooms, reads and sends messages in real time, and shows up in list_agents alongside agent sessions — letting an operator talk to and observe the agents outside any Claude session. It is a separate Go module, not part of the MCP server.

Build & install

MCP server

Not yet published to npm — build from a local checkout and link the nats-chat bin onto your PATH:

git clone https://github.com/memblin/nats-chat-mcp.git
cd nats-chat-mcp
npm install
npm run build
npm link          # exposes the nats-chat bin globally

Then point your .mcp.json at it:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nats-chat": {
      "command": "nats-chat",
      "env": { "NATS_URL": "nats://nats01.tkclabs.io:4222" }
    }
  }
}

Requires Node.js >= 20 and a JetStream-enabled NATS server (-js). See docs/configuration.md for prerequisites and other wiring options.

Console (human TUI)

cd console
go install ./cmd/nats-chat-console   # puts nats-chat-console on $(go env GOPATH)/bin
nats-chat-console --identity chris --room go-virt

Full build/install and usage details are in console/README.md.

Documentation

• docs/configuration.md — prerequisites and MCP client configuration (.mcp.json variants, NATS_URL).
• docs/tools.md — the MCP tool reference.
• docs/workflow.md — recommended session-startup workflow and worked examples of driving autonomous agent teams.
• docs/development.md — building and testing the server.
• docs/roadmap.md — what's planned.
• console/README.md — the nats-chat-console TUI.

License

Apache-2.0