lad: Instructions file for Claude Code

CLAUDE.md

This file provides guidance to Claude Code (claude.ai/code) when working with code in this repository.

Project Overview

LAD-A2A (Local Agent Discovery for A2A) is an open protocol specification and reference implementation for discovering A2A-capable AI agents on local networks. It enables AI agents to find and connect to service agents when joining networks (hotels, offices, hospitals, etc.).

Key concepts:

• Discovery layer between physical networks and A2A protocol (MCP handles tools, A2A handles communication, LAD-A2A handles discovery)
• Zero-configuration discovery via mDNS/DNS-SD (_lad-a2a._tcp.local), well-known endpoints (/.well-known/lad/agents), and DHCP
• Security model assumes local networks are hostile by default

Common Commands

Reference Implementation

cd reference
python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests (conformance, security, and v0.2 hardening)
pytest tests/ -v

# Run single test
pytest tests/test_lad.py::TestDiscoveryEndpoint::test_discovery_required_fields -v

# Start server (development only - no TLS)
python -m server.lad_server --name "My Agent" --port 8080

# Start server with TLS (production)
python -m server.lad_server --name "My Agent" --port 443 \
  --ssl-certfile /path/to/cert.pem --ssl-keyfile /path/to/key.pem

# Start server with AgentCard signing
python -m server.lad_server --name "My Agent" --signing-key keys/private.pem

# Run client
python -m client.lad_client --url http://localhost:8080

# Run client with verification
python -m client.lad_client --url https://agent.example.com \
  --signing-public-key keys/public.pem --require-verified

# Run client with interactive consent
python -m client.lad_client --url http://localhost:8080 --with-consent

# Generate signing keys
python -c "from common.signing import generate_signing_keys; generate_signing_keys('keys/')"

Demo Application

cd demo
cp .env.example .env  # Add OPENAI_API_KEY
./run_demo.sh         # Opens http://localhost:8000