channels-setup

Channels Setup Guide

Help the user set up the Talon Channels universal server so any client can connect to Claude Code via WebSocket.

Steps

1. Verify Installation

The channels MCP server should already be configured. Verify:

# Check if the channels server is in MCP config
cat ~/.claude/settings.json 2>/dev/null | grep -A 3 "talon-channels" || echo "Not configured"

2. Check Server Health

curl -s http://localhost:21568/health 2>/dev/null || echo "Server not running"

3. Get Auth Token

Clients need a token to connect:

curl -s -X POST http://localhost:21568/auth/local | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin).get('token',''))"

Or read from discovery file:

cat ~/.talon/channels_token 2>/dev/null || echo "No token file"

4. Connect a Client

Any WebSocket client can connect:

ws://localhost:21568/ws?token=TOKEN&mode=full&name=my-client

Mode options:

• chat — Chat only, no hook events
• monitor — Read-only view of all events
• full — Everything: chat + hooks + permissions
• custom — Pick categories: ?mode=custom&categories=tools,permissions,session

Available categories: chat, tools, permissions, session, notifications, subagents, lifecycle, filesystem, worktree, compact, elicitation, prompts

5. Example: Connect from Node.js

import WebSocket from 'ws';

const token = 'YOUR_TOKEN';
const ws = new WebSocket(`ws://localhost:21568/ws?token=${token}&mode=full&name=my-app`);

ws.on('message', (data) => {
  const msg = JSON.parse(data);
  const payload = msg.payload;

  if (payload.type === 'event' && payload.data.type === 'hook_event') {
    console.log('Hook:', payload.data.hook_event_name, payload.data.data);
  }

  if (payload.type === 'stream') {
    console.log('Reply:', payload.event);
  }
});

// Send a chat message
ws.send(JSON.stringify({
  type: 'chat_message',
  text: 'Hello from my app!',
  chat_id: 'my-chat-1',
}));

// Respond to permission request
ws.send(JSON.stringify({
  type: 'permission_verdict',
  request_id: 'req-123',
  behavior: 'allow',
}));