node-creator

name

node-creator

description

Create, wrap, or start an L3 node and connect it to the Gateway. A node wraps any software or service (browser, sandbox, local tools, APIs, connectors) into a Gateway capability: it connects with role=node, declares capabilities[], and handles node.invoke.request — analogous to an MCP server. Use when the user wants to add browser capability (start browser-node), run sandbox commands (start sandbox-node), wrap a new service as a custom node, or understand how to expose any tool to agents via gateway_node_invoke.

Node Creator

What is a node?

An L3 node is any process that connects to the Gateway with role=node, declares what it can do via capabilities, and handles node.invoke.request events. When an agent calls gateway_node_invoke(nodeId, command, params), the Gateway forwards the request to the node, the node executes the command, and returns the result.

This is monoU's MCP-equivalent: nodes are capability servers that agents invoke on demand.

Agent  →  gateway_node_invoke(nodeId, command, params)
               ↓
           Gateway  (node.invoke forwarding)
               ↓
           Node process  (handles node.invoke.request, returns result)

Any software can become a node. The browser-node wraps Playwright. The sandbox-node wraps Docker. You could wrap a Python REPL, a local database, a hardware sensor, a third-party API — anything with a node.invoke.request handler.

Starting existing nodes

Browser node

Wraps Playwright WebKit. Exposes browser_fetch, browser_click, browser_fill, browser_links, browser_screenshot, browser_pages, browser_switch, browser_new_tab.

GATEWAY_URL=ws://127.0.0.1:9347 \
BROWSER_USER_DATA_DIR=.gateway/browser-profile \
"$AGENT_DIR/skills/node-creator/scripts/start-browser-node.sh"

See references/browser-node.md for all env vars, Docker usage, and troubleshooting.

Sandbox node

Wraps Docker exec (or local subprocess). Exposes system.run, system.which.

GATEWAY_URL=ws://127.0.0.1:9347 \
"$AGENT_DIR/skills/node-creator/scripts/start-sandbox-node.sh"

See references/sandbox-node.md for Docker/no-Docker modes and env vars.

Creating a custom node

To wrap a new service as a node, implement the node.invoke.request handler pattern:

1. Connect to the Gateway as role=node with your capabilities array.
2. Listen for node.invoke.request events.
3. Execute the requested command with params.
4. Send back node.invoke.result with { ok, payload } or { ok: false, error }.

References:

• references/node-protocol.md — full protocol spec, TypeScript template, command naming guidelines, reconnection and concurrency patterns.
• references/software-patterns.md — ready-to-use patterns for wrapping REST APIs, CLI tools, Python scripts, databases, webhooks, and multi-capability nodes.
• references/mcp-as-node.md — bridge an existing MCP (Model Context Protocol) server as a Gateway node, including a generic stdio adapter and HTTP MCP support.

After starting a node

Verify with gateway_nodes_list — the new node should appear with its nodeId and capabilities.
Then call it with gateway_node_invoke(nodeId, command, params).