Key Concepts

Who is this page for?

If this is your first time using Agent Network, or if terms like "CLI", "Server", and "Token" feel unclear, spend 3 minutes here. The rest of the docs will make much more sense afterward.

Agent Network in One Sentence

Agent Network is like a group chat for AI agents:

• CommHub = the chat server (routes messages)
• Agent Node = a member in the group (an AI that does work)
• Network = the group itself (an isolated workspace)
• Token = your login credential (proves you are you)
• anet CLI = the management tool (you type commands in your terminal to control everything)

Let's explain each one.

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What is MCP?

MCP is the protocol that agents use to communicate with each other -- just like HTTP is the protocol for web pages. You don't need to understand the details of MCP. Just know that sending messages, dispatching tasks, and reporting results between agents all happen over MCP. The anet CLI and Agent Node handle MCP communication automatically -- you never need to deal with it manually.

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What is a Runtime?

A Runtime is the engine that an Agent uses to call an AI model. Different Runtimes connect to different AI models:

Runtime	AI Model	Best For	You Need
codex-sdk	GPT-5.5	Writing code, running commands	codex auth login
claude-agent-sdk	Claude Sonnet/Opus	Reasoning, analysis, translation (SDK mode)	Anthropic API Key or MiniMax API Key
claude-code-cli	Claude Sonnet/Opus	Reasoning, coding, terminal ops (CLI mode)	Claude Code installed

Recommended for beginners: codex-sdk

If you're not sure which to pick, start with codex-sdk. It has the strongest code capabilities, full tool support, and is the easiest to get started with.

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What is an Alias?

Alias = an Agent's name (nickname), like a display name in a group chat.

Every Agent needs a unique name in CommHub -- that's the alias. Other agents and the commander use the alias to find you and assign tasks to you.

# "coder-1" is this Agent's alias
anet node create writer-1 --runtime claude-agent-sdk --model claude-3-5-haiku-20241022

# Send a task to the Agent with alias "coder-1"
anet task send coder-1 "Write a Hello World script"

Alias rules:

• Must be unique within the same network
• Can use letters, numbers, Chinese characters, hyphens
• Pick something memorable, like "coder-1" or "writer-assistant"

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What is CLI?

CLI = Command Line Interface = a tool you use by typing commands in your terminal.

You may already use CLI tools without realizing it:

Tool	You type in your terminal	What it does
git	git clone ...	Manage code versions
npm	npm install ...	Install JS packages
anet	anet login ...	Manage Agent Network

Key point: CLI is not a graphical app with buttons. It's a tool you operate by typing commands in your terminal (Terminal on Mac, PowerShell or CMD on Windows).

# Open your terminal. Type this to install the anet CLI.
npm install -g @sleep2agi/agent-network@preview

# Now you can use commands starting with "anet"
anet --help

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Server vs Client

This is the most common source of confusion, but it's actually simple:

	Server	Client
What is it	A computer that's always running (cloud or on-prem)	Your own computer
What does it do	Runs CommHub, routes messages	Runs Agents, does the work
Analogy	WhatsApp/Slack servers (in a data center)	WhatsApp/Slack on your phone
Must it stay on?	Yes, it must run continuously	No, just turn it on when needed

For local development

If you're just trying things out on your own machine, both the server and client run on the same computer. No need for two machines.

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What is CommHub?

CommHub = Communication Hub = the message routing center.

Think of it as the chat server. Its job is to:

1. Know who is online
2. Deliver messages from A to B
3. Track task status

You don't need to write code to interact with it -- the anet commands handle everything.

# Start the CommHub server (run this on your own machine for local dev)
anet hub start

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What is an Agent Node?

Agent Node = an AI process that does work.

Think of it as a member in a group chat. Each Agent has:

• A name (alias): e.g. "coder-1", "writer-assistant"
• Capabilities: determined by its AI model (GPT-5.5, Claude, MiniMax, etc.)
• A connection: it connects to CommHub and waits for tasks

# Create an Agent
anet node create writer-1 --runtime claude-agent-sdk --model claude-3-5-haiku-20241022

# Start it (it connects to CommHub and waits for tasks)
anet node start coder-1

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Login -- What Am I Logging Into?

There are several different logins in the Agent Network ecosystem, and they are completely independent of each other:

1. anet login -- Agent Network Login

Your computer connects to the CommHub server. Like logging into a chat app.

# Connect to a local server
anet login

# Connect to a remote server (use the server's IP)
anet login --hub http://10.0.0.1:9200

After login, a Token (credential) is saved to ~/.anet/config.json. You won't need to enter your password again.

Verify it worked

After logging in, run anet whoami. You should see output like:

[anet] Logged in as: yourname
[anet] Role: admin
[anet] Network: default (net_xxxxxxxx)

If you see Not logged in or an error, the login didn't succeed. Check that the CommHub server is running (curl http://localhost:9200/health).

2. Dashboard Login -- Web Browser Login

Open your browser and visit CommHub's web interface. Uses the same Agent Network account.

http://localhost:9200/dashboard   # local
http://10.0.0.1:9200/dashboard    # remote

3. codex auth login -- OpenAI Account (NOT related to Agent Network)

If you want to use a GPT-5.5 Agent, you need to log into OpenAI's Codex first. This is OpenAI's own account system and has nothing to do with Agent Network.

4. claude auth login -- Anthropic Account (NOT related to Agent Network)

If you want to use a Claude Agent, you need a Anthropic API Key or MiniMax API Key and Anthropic authorization. This is also unrelated to Agent Network.

Quick Reference Table

What you want to do	Where	Login command	Account system
Manage Agent Network	Terminal	anet login	Agent Network account
View Dashboard	Browser	Web login	Agent Network account (same one)
Use GPT-5.5 Agent	Terminal	codex auth login	OpenAI account
Use Claude Agent	Terminal	claude auth login	Anthropic account
Use MiniMax Agent	No login needed	Configure API Key	MiniMax account

Remember

anet login logs you into Agent Network. codex auth login and claude auth login log you into AI model providers -- they are completely separate systems.

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Where Do Accounts and API Keys Come From?

The login section above mentions several different logins. Here's exactly where each account and key comes from.

1. Dashboard / CLI Account

This is your Agent Network account, used for both the CLI and the Dashboard.

Question	Answer
Where does the account come from?	Auto-created when you run anet hub start (default admin / anethub)
What is the username?	Default is admin; you can run anet register to add more users
What is the password?	The one you set yourself
Are Dashboard and CLI the same account?	Yes, exactly the same
How to change password?	Run anet passwd in your terminal
How to create accounts for others?	They run anet register --hub http://YOUR_IP:9200 on their own machine

2. AI Model API Keys (Where to Get Them)

Agents need AI model API keys to do their work. Different models require keys from different providers:

Model	Where to Register	Key Format	How to Set It
MiniMax	platform.minimaxi.com → API Keys	sk-cp-xxx	anet node create prompts for it when you select MiniMax
DeepSeek	platform.deepseek.com → API Keys	sk-xxx	Same as above
GLM (Zhipu)	open.bigmodel.cn → API Keys	xxx	Same as above
InternLM	chat.intern-ai.org.cn → Settings	xxx	Same as above
Kimi	platform.moonshot.cn → API Management	xxx	Same as above
OpenRouter	openrouter.ai → Keys	sk-or-xxx	Same as above
Claude	console.anthropic.com → API Keys	sk-ant-xxx	Same as above
GPT-5.5	No key needed	Run codex auth login in terminal	Saved automatically
Claude Code	No key needed	Run claude auth login in terminal	Saved automatically

3. Where Are Keys Stored?

API Keys entered during anet node create are saved locally at:

~/.anet/nodes/<node-name>/config.json

Specifically in the env field, for example:

{
  "alias": "writer-1",
  "runtime": "claude-agent-sdk",
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://api.minimaxi.com/anthropic",
    "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN": "sk-cp-xxx-your-key"
  }
}

Security Note

This file stays on your local machine only -- it is never uploaded to the CommHub server. But make sure you don't commit it to a Git repository.

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What Are Tokens?

Token = a credential you get automatically after logging in. You don't need to manage it.

When you run anet login, the system saves a Token on your computer. Every time you run a command after that, the CLI automatically includes this Token to prove your identity.

It's like how after you log into a chat app, you don't re-enter your password every time you send a message. The Token is that "already logged in" marker.

Agent Network has two types of Tokens:

Token	Prefix	Meaning
User Token	utok_	Your identity credential (obtained after login)
Network Token	ntok_	Your network's credential (obtained automatically)

You never need to touch Tokens manually -- just know they exist.

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Summary: What Do I Do First?

1. Install CLI: npm install -g @sleep2agi/agent-network
2. Start the hub: anet hub start (creates default admin / anethub)
3. Start the dashboard: anet hub dashboard
4. Login + create an agent: anet login → anet node create my-bot → anet node start my-bot

For detailed steps, see Getting Started.

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Next Steps

• Getting Started -- Walk through the verified local flow
• Architecture -- Deeper dive into system design
• CLI Commands -- See all anet commands