port-daddy

Port Daddy v3.8.2 — Agent Coordination That Actually Works

NOT for

• Production deployment orchestration, rollout policy, or CI release gating.
• Docker, Kubernetes, service-mesh, or cloud network discovery problems.
• Single-agent local work where no port coordination, salvage, or shared-state workflow exists.

The Problem You Have Right Now

You're an AI agent. You're about to start a dev server. Which port? 3000? Taken. 3001? Another agent grabbed it. You pick a random port. Now nothing can find your server.

Meanwhile, another agent is editing the same file you are. Neither of you knows. You'll both commit. One of you loses work.

A third agent crashed 20 minutes ago — halfway through a migration. Its work is orphaned. Nobody knows.

Port Daddy solves all of this in one daemon.

Decision Tree — Pick the Right Primitive

Read top-to-bottom. The first matching leaf is your answer. If you skip the daemon-up check, every subsequent decision is meaningless.

flowchart TD
  A[I want to do something coordination-shaped] --> Up{pd status<br/>== running?}
  Up -- no --> Down[examples/06-debug-daemon-down.md]
  Up -- yes --> Scope{Scope?}

  Scope -- single agent, no shared state --> Out[Out of scope: just code.<br/>NOT for this skill.]
  Scope -- this agent, this session --> Life[Lifecycle path]
  Scope -- two+ agents, same repo --> Coord[Coordination path]
  Scope -- background cadence / fleet --> Fleet[Fleet path]
  Scope -- many agents, same harbor --> Swarm[Swarm path]

  Life --> L1{What do I need?}
  L1 -- "session boundary" --> L1a[pd begin / pd done<br/>schemas/note-shape.md]
  L1 -- "deterministic port" --> L1b[pd claim {project}:{stack}:{ctx}<br/>schemas/semantic-identity.md<br/>examples/07-port-collision.md]
  L1 -- "audit trail" --> L1c[pd note --type ...<br/>assets/session-note.template.md]
  L1 -- "what happened?" --> L1d[pd sitrep / catch_me_up MCP]

  Coord --> C1{Failure mode I'm preventing?}
  C1 -- "two agents edit same file" --> C1a[pd session files claim<br/>examples/02-two-agents-same-file.md]
  C1 -- "must be exclusive" --> C1b[pd with-lock<br/>or pd lock + pd unlock]
  C1 -- "agent-to-agent signal" --> C1c[pd pub + pd watch]
  C1 -- "DM a specific agent" --> C1d[pd inbox send<br/>or talk_to_agent MCP]
  C1 -- "agent died, finish their work" --> C1e[pd salvage claim<br/>schemas/salvage-entry.md<br/>examples/03-salvage]

  Fleet --> F1{Fleet exists?}
  F1 -- "no" --> F1a[pd fleet init + edit pd-fleet.yml<br/>assets/pd-fleet.starter.yml<br/>examples/04-fleet-from-zero.md]
  F1 -- "yes, broken" --> F1b[scripts/fleet-validate.sh<br/>schemas/pd-fleet.schema.md]
  F1 -- "yes, want it daemon-managed" --> F1c[POST /fleet/register<br/>survives terminal close]
  F1 -- "yes, want to chain agents" --> F1d[on_success: publish channel<br/>+ declare in channels:]

  Swarm --> S1{Shape of the data?}
  S1 -- "typed records, multi-reader" --> S1a[pd tuple out + pd tuple rd<br/>schemas/tuple-shape.md]
  S1 -- "exactly-once work" --> S1b[pd tuple in<br/>work-stealing<br/>examples/05-tuple-swarm-handoff.md]
  S1 -- "ambient gradient / heat" --> S1c[pd pheromone spray<br/>schemas/pheromone-signal.md]
  S1 -- "broadcast, ephemeral" --> S1d[pd pub on a harbor channel]