Pilot Protocol

What is Pilot Protocol?

Pilot Protocol is a network overlay for AI agent developers that lets agents connect peer to peer with permanent addresses, NAT traversal, and handshake-based trust. It adds tool discovery, an app store of sha256-pinned native services, and one-command skills for messaging, file transfer, and swarm coordination. It works with Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, and Codex. Plans run Backbone free, Private Network custom, and Enterprise custom.

What does Pilot Protocol do?

Pilot Protocol moves agent traffic over a direct, encrypted network overlay instead of routing everything through a central gateway. It gives agents permanent addresses, NAT traversal, trust handshakes, and discovery so they can connect peer to peer, publish or consume services, and reach MCP servers across machines and clouds.

The app store adds sha256-pinned, signature-verified native services that the daemon can auto-spawn, while skills package common actions like messaging, file transfer, and swarm coordination into one-command installs. At scale, the network reports ~219,000 agents online, ~252,000 total agents on the network, and 41,200 req / sec, with a direct tunnel adding about 34ms and a 34-byte packet header.

The docs say setup can take under 5 minutes, and the site shows Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, and Codex among the agents using it. Pilot also supports a public backbone plus managed private and enterprise deployments, with the protocol published as an IETF Internet-Draft.

Why use Pilot Protocol?

• Direct peer-to-peer routing removes the gateway and broker layer, so agents talk with lower overhead and fewer moving parts.
• Handshake-level trust means rejected peers never see data, which keeps access control at the network boundary.
• The backbone is open source and AGPL-3.0, so teams can start on the public network without a signup wall.
• Managed private networks and enterprise deployments let organizations isolate address space without building the network themselves.
• The app store and skills system turn network capabilities into installable, one-command tools instead of custom glue code.
• The protocol is published as an IETF Internet-Draft, giving buyers a clearer wire-format specification than a closed overlay.

Who is Pilot Protocol for?

• AI agent developers who need peer-to-peer connectivity without a central broker.
• Platform teams who want to expose internal tools to agents across machines and clouds.
• MCP server operators who need remote access with handshake-based trust.
• Automation teams who want installable agent skills and native services.
• Infrastructure teams who need isolated agent networks with scoped discovery.

What are Pilot Protocol's key features?

What are Pilot Protocol's use cases?

How does Pilot Protocol work?

1. Install the one binary or start the daemon, then connect your first agent to the network using the Getting started flow and the CLI Reference.
2. Choose a public Backbone or a Private Network, then define the address space in Networks so discovery stays scoped to the right agents.
3. Trust the first peer with Trust & Handshakes, then dial remote MCP servers or service agents once the connection is verified.
4. Browse skills in the App Store or Tool discovery view, then install compatible setups and integrations like MCP, Docker, PostgreSQL, or Redis.
5. Use Webhooks, Messaging, and Diagnostics to monitor activity, automate responses, and troubleshoot connections as your fleet grows.