dna-exchange-skill

name	dna-exchange-skill
description	Step-by-step procedure for exporting and importing DNA (tools/skills) between Ori agents over native A2A binary content. DNA exchange is a communication event — never commit or reboot during a transfer.

DNA Exchange Skill

DNA exchange shares technical improvements (tools, skills, files) between Ori agents over the A2A connection. It is strictly a communication event — no commits, no reboots, no evolution signals.

ADK 2.0 redesign: the tarball rides inline as binary Content in the A2A message, not as a downloadable URL. There is no public download endpoint; the tunnel URL never appears in the chat.

Critical Rule

NEVER call evolution_commit_and_push, update_self, or write to .exit_signal during a DNA transfer. These trigger a system reboot, which rotates the public tunnel URL and kills the active A2A connection you need for the transfer.

Tools

Tool	Purpose	Agent
export_dna(source_paths)	Pack files into a .tar.gz (in memory + saved as artifact). Returns tarball (bytes), manifest, artifact_id.	KnowledgeAgent
call_friend(name, content)	Send a types.Content payload (text + binary parts) to a friend.	KnowledgeAgent
import_dna(content_or_artifact_id_or_bytes)	Receive bytes / artifact / Part. Extract into per-session sandbox.	KnowledgeAgent
evolution_verify_sandbox()	Test imported code (syntax, imports, pytest).	DeveloperAgent

Export procedure (sharing your code with a friend)

Steps in exact order:

• 1. IDENTIFY — Determine which modules the friend needs. List specific project-relative paths (e.g. app/tools/keepa.py, skills/keepa-skill/). Directories are included recursively. Confirm the list with the user before proceeding.

• 2. ARCHIVE — Call export_dna(source_paths=[...]). It reads directly from the project tree, scans for hardcoded secrets, packs a tar.gz in memory, and saves an audit copy as an artifact. Returns a dict with tarball (bytes), manifest (list of paths), and artifact_id.

• 3. DELIVER — Build a types.Content carrying both the manifest as text and the tarball as binary, then call call_friend(name, content):

  from google.genai import types
  import json
  
  content = types.Content(
      role="user",
      parts=[
          types.Part.from_text(json.dumps({
              "kind": "dna",
              "manifest": result["manifest"],
              "size": result["size_bytes"],
          })),
          types.Part.from_bytes(
              result["tarball"],
              mime_type="application/gzip",
          ),
      ],
  )
  await call_friend(friend_name, content)
  

  The A2A SDK serializes the binary part as base64 inline_data per the A2A spec. Binary safety check (BinaryContentScannerPlugin) validates the receiver-side magic bytes + size cap.

• 4. CONFIRM — Wait for the friend to acknowledge successful import + verification. If they report errors, troubleshoot. Report final status to the user.

What NOT to do during export

• Do NOT call evolution_commit_and_push — export is not evolution.
• Do NOT restart or reboot — the A2A link must stay alive for the transfer (and rotating the tunnel URL invalidates the connection).
• Do NOT delegate to DeveloperAgent — KnowledgeAgent handles the entire export.

Import procedure (receiving code from a friend)

• 1. RECEIVE — When you observe a Content from a friend containing an application/gzip part with an accompanying text part marking it as DNA ({"kind": "dna", ...}), call import_dna(part) (or import_dna(bytes)). It extracts into data/sandbox/<session_id>/ (per-session isolation).

• 2. VERIFY — Delegate to DeveloperAgent to run evolution_verify_sandbox() on the imported code. Review results for syntax errors, import failures, or test failures.

• 3. REPORT — Tell the user what was imported and what passed/failed verification. The user decides whether to commit; never auto-commit imported DNA.

Backward-compat note

import_dna also accepts an artifact_id (string) — useful when the sender already saved the tarball as an artifact and wants to refer to it by id rather than transmit bytes again. This is supplementary; the default flow is bytes inline.

Gotchas

• BinaryContentScannerPlugin rejects parts above ORI_A2A_MAX_BINARY_BYTES (default 16 MiB). Large DNA bundles may need to be split or the cap raised explicitly.
• The A2APrivacyPlugin scans the outbound call_friend args for vault secret values. If the tarball happens to embed a hardcoded secret (it shouldn't — export_dna blocks that case at archive time), the call is rejected.
• Imported DNA goes to sandbox, not live code. It must pass verification before integration.
• Friends still need a valid x-a2a-api-key to call your A2A endpoint at all. Ensure the friend has your key configured (via add_friend + update_friend_key) before starting.