AgentBridge — the Meta-Bridge

One neutral mesh every agent speaks through: translate, route, verify, govern. Any protocol in, any protocol out — with identity, budgets, and a tamper-evident audit trail built into the call path.

The whole product in 12 seconds: an unknown agent blocked, six protocols reaching one live MCP tool through the mesh, budget tracked, tamper-evident audit chain verified. Reproduce with python examples/demo_story.py.

Status: working prototype. 6 protocols live + conformance-tested against real SDKs, a governance plane, an HTTP control plane, and framework integrations. 153 tests passing (159 with a Postgres DB). Business demand still being validated — this is an early, honest work-in-progress.

Name note: this project (github.com/shadowhunter-92/agentbridge) is a Python protocol-translation + governance mesh. It is unrelated to other products that may share the "AgentBridge" name (e.g. connector-gateway SaaS at other domains). This repo is the source of truth for this AgentBridge.

Table of contents

What it does · Quick start · Talk to agents yourself · Protocol support matrix · Architecture · Security model · Framework integrations · Enterprise governance · Editions & pricing · Docs

What it does

• N-protocol mesh (any-to-any): MCP (Anthropic), A2A (Google/LF), ACP (IBM/LF), OpenAI function-calling, Gemini function-calling, AGNTCY ACP. One canonical model → adding a protocol is one adapter, not N² mappings. Every adapter is validated against the protocol's real official SDK.
• In-line proxy: the bridge actually sits between live agents on different protocols, not just translating (see examples/).
• Governance plane (the moat): Ed25519 agent identities (DIDs), per-agent spend/rate budgets, human-in-the-loop approvals for sensitive capabilities, and a hash-chained tamper-evident audit trail — all enforced in the call path and durable (SQLite; Postgres-swappable).
• Enterprise governance: a declarative policy engine (cost caps, business-hours, route/ capability rules), RBAC for operators, OIDC/JWT operator SSO, and signed audit checkpoints (see docs/ENTERPRISE.md).
• Drop-in MCP server: point Claude Desktop / an IDE / a gateway at it to reach other protocols.
• Framework integrations: one helper lets LangChain / CrewAI / AutoGen / LlamaIndex agents reach a tool/agent on any protocol — they all emit OpenAI-shaped tool calls (see docs/INTEGRATIONS.md).

Quick start

python -m venv .venv && .venv/Scripts/pip install -r requirements.txt   # (Windows; use bin/ on *nix)

Governance is optional. If you just want one agent/protocol to talk to another, use the mesh directly — no keys, no budgets, no setup:

from src.protocols import default_registry as reg
from src.protocols.canonical import CanonicalCall

call = reg.get("openai").from_canonical_call(CanonicalCall("add", {"a": 2, "b": 3}))
reg.translate_call(call, "openai", "mcp")     # -> a real MCP tools/call. That's it.

.venv/Scripts/python examples/quickstart.py   # translate + bridge to a LIVE tool, zero governance

Add identity, budgets, and a tamper-evident audit trail only when you want them:

# Run the meta-bridge control plane (mesh + governance) — CLI or uvicorn
python -m src serve                        # = uvicorn src.api.control_plane:app
#   docs at /docs · status dashboard at /dashboard · health at /health
#   set AGENTBRIDGE_ADMIN_KEY for operator endpoints; AGENTBRIDGE_DB=/path.db (or a postgres:// URL)

# Or with Docker (healthcheck on /health, persistent SQLite volume)
docker compose up

# Or run it as a drop-in MCP server (stdio)
python -m src mcp                          # = python -m src.serve.mcp_gateway

# Other CLI commands
python -m src --version
python -m src translate --from openai --to mcp   # show a one-off any-to-any translation

# Live demos (real agents on both ends)
.venv/Scripts/python examples/live_nprotocol_proxy.py   # OpenAI/ACP -> live MCP, MCP -> live ACP
.venv/Scripts/python examples/live_governed_proxy.py    # identity + budget + audit in action
.venv/Scripts/python examples/policy_guardrails_demo.py # policy BLOCKS risky calls + provable audit trail

# Tests
.venv/Scripts/python -m pytest tests/ -q                # 153 passing; 159 with a Postgres DB (6 PG tests skip without one)

Talk to agents yourself (any protocol)

Yes — you can use AgentBridge to reach an agent/tool that speaks a different protocol than you do. That's the whole point. Give it a call in any protocol's shape; it translates and (if you want) governs, then delivers to the live target and hands the result back:

import asyncio
from src.integrations import bridge_tool_call
from src.proxy import transport

# You "speak" OpenAI tool-calls; the tool lives behind MCP. Reach it anyway:
async def main():
    result = await bridge_tool_call(
        "add", {"a": 2, "b": 3}, to="mcp",
        invoke=lambda w: transport.call_mcp_tool(
            "python", ["examples/mcp_server_agent.py"], w["params"]["name"], w["params"]["arguments"]),
    )
    print(result)        # -> OpenAI-shaped tool result: "5"

asyncio.run(main())

Swap to="mcp" for a2a, acp, gemini, or agntcy to reach an agent on that protocol.

Human client (discover + talk, from the CLI). Point it at any agent, see what it can do, and call it — across protocols:

# Discover what an agent offers (MCP tools / A2A AgentCard):
python -m src.serve.agent_client discover --mcp "python examples/mcp_server_agent.py"
python -m src.serve.agent_client discover --a2a http://localhost:9100

# Call / talk to it:
python -m src.serve.agent_client call --mcp "python examples/mcp_server_agent.py" --tool add --args '{"a":2,"b":3}'
python -m src.serve.agent_client talk --a2a http://localhost:9100 --message "hello"

Reaching real third-party tools (GitHub, Slack, Notion, …) works the same way — you point the bridge at the tool's existing MCP server, no connector to build. See docs/CONNECTORS.md and the worked GitHub example (examples/github_mcp_bridge.py).

Protocol support matrix

Protocol	Owner	Adapter	Conformance vs real SDK	Any-to-any	Live agent
MCP	Anthropic	✅	✅ mcp 1.27 (CallToolRequestParams)	✅	✅ FastMCP server (stdio)
A2A	Google / LF	✅	✅ a2a-sdk 0.3 (Task, Message)	✅	✅ uvicorn agent + AgentCard
ACP	IBM / BeeAI / LF	✅	✅ acp-sdk 1.0 (Run, Message)	✅	✅ REST /runs agent
OpenAI function-calling	OpenAI	✅	✅ openai 2.x (ChatCompletionMessageToolCall)	✅	✅ routed to live MCP/ACP
Gemini function-calling	Google	✅	✅ google-genai (FunctionCall)	✅	✅ routed to live MCP
AGNTCY ACP	Cisco	✅	✅ agntcy-acp (RunCreateStateless)	✅	✅ routed to live MCP
ANP	—	⛔ deferred → governance plane	—	—	—

6 call protocols, 6×6 = 36 any-to-any pairs, all green. Adding a 7th is one adapter file + one registry line + one conformance test. Full detail: docs/PROTOCOL_SUPPORT.md. ANP is an identity/discovery layer, not a call protocol — it informs the governance plane, not an adapter (see docs/PROTOCOL_SUPPORT.md).

Architecture

flowchart LR
    subgraph clients [Agents / clients - any protocol]
        C1[MCP client]
        C2[A2A / ACP agent]
        C3[OpenAI / Gemini / AGNTCY]
    end
    subgraph bridge [AgentBridge]
        direction TB
        G[Governance gateway<br/>identity · budget · approval · audit]
        M[Canonical mesh<br/>any-to-any translation]
        G --> M
    end
    subgraph targets [Target agents / tools - any protocol]
        T1[live MCP tool]
        T2[live A2A / ACP agent]
    end
    C1 & C2 & C3 -->|signed call| G
    M -->|translated + governed| T1 & T2
    OP[Operator] -->|admin API| G

Loading

Every call enters the governance gateway (verify identity → reserve budget → check approval), is translated through the canonical mesh (any protocol → any protocol), is delivered to the target agent, then committed and written to a tamper-evident audit log.

• src/protocols/ — canonical hub + per-protocol adapters (the mesh)
• src/governance/ — identity, audit, budgets, approvals, policy, gateway, persistence (the moat)
• src/proxy/ — real transport clients + in-line proxy
• src/api/control_plane.py — the shipped HTTP API (mesh + governed routing, authenticated)
• src/serve/mcp_gateway.py — drop-in MCP server packaging

Deployment topology: run it as a drop-in MCP server (per-developer), as a central control-plane API (team), or inline as a proxy between agents. See docs/DEPLOYMENT.md. Performance overhead is measured in docs/BENCHMARKS.md.

Security model

• Operator endpoints require an admin key (X-Admin-Key) or — with OIDC configured — an IdP bearer token; every endpoint is RBAC-enforced (admin/operator/viewer).
• Agent endpoints require Ed25519 signed requests (X-Agent-Id/X-Nonce/X-Signature) with nonce replay protection. Identities can be revoked.
• Per-IP rate limiting on /control/* (blunts admin-key brute force; AGENTBRIDGE_RATE_LIMIT).
• Audit is hash-chained and tamper-evident; export via /control/audit/export.

Persistence & multi-worker

Chosen from AGENTBRIDGE_DB: unset → in-memory; a file path → SQLite (single node); a postgres:// URL → Postgres (multi-instance; pip install "psycopg[binary]").

The audit-chain append and budget reserve/commit are atomic store-side operations (SQLite BEGIN IMMEDIATE / Postgres advisory locks), so multiple workers/replicas are safe when they share a durable store — the chain can't fork and budgets can't double-spend (tests/test_concurrency.py proves it across separate connections + threads). Use the in-memory store for single-worker/dev only. See docs/ENTERPRISE.md → Concurrency & scaling.

Framework integrations (LangChain / CrewAI / AutoGen / LlamaIndex)

These frameworks all emit OpenAI-shaped tool calls, so one helper lets any of them reach a tool/agent on any protocol through the bridge — zero new dependencies:

from src.integrations import bridge_tool_call
# inside a LangChain/CrewAI/AutoGen tool:
result = await bridge_tool_call("add", {"a": 2, "b": 3}, to="mcp", invoke=your_transport)

Per-framework wrapping recipes (LangChain StructuredTool, CrewAI @tool, AutoGen function, LlamaIndex FunctionTool) are in docs/INTEGRATIONS.md.

Enterprise governance

Real, tested controls enterprises ask for — all live over the control-plane HTTP API:

• Declarative policy engine — per-call cost caps, approval-above-cost, capability allow/deny, business-hours-only, blocked protocol routes (POST /control/policy/rules).
• RBAC — admin / operator / viewer roles → permissions, enforced per endpoint.
• OIDC / JWT operator SSO — verify an IdP token (Okta/Azure AD/Auth0/Keycloak), role claim → RBAC role; replaces the shared admin key.
• Signed audit checkpoints — third-party-verifiable proof the audit log wasn't truncated; JSONL export feeds SIEMs (Splunk/Datadog/S3).

Full usage + code: docs/ENTERPRISE.md. (Honestly not shipped as code: managed hosting and SOC 2 — those are operations and an audit process, not a library feature.)

Governance in the call path: a policy blocks a forbidden capability, an over-budget call, and a needs-approval call — then a hash-chained, integrity-verified audit trail of every allow/deny. This is what EU AI Act Article 12 (automatic event logging for high-risk AI, from Aug 2026) looks like at runtime. Reproduce with python examples/policy_guardrails_demo.py.

▶ Watch the 54-second explainer (motion graphics + voiceover): shadowhunter-92.github.io/agentbridge/media/explainer.html — source: media/explainer.html.

Editions & pricing (direction)

Open-core: the mesh + basic governance are free and self-hostable (Apache 2.0). Monetization is hosted governance/compliance, not the translation (which is commoditizing). Indicative tiers (hypotheses to validate with customers, not live products):

Edition	Who	What	Price (hypothesis)
OSS core	builders	mesh + basic governance + drop-in MCP server, self-host	$0
Pro / Team	startups	hosted control plane, dashboard, persistence, support	~$99–499/mo
Business	scale-ups	RBAC/SSO, cost analytics, alerts, SLA	~$1k–5k/mo
Compliance	regulated (finance/health/HR)	EU-AI-Act audit pack, signed export, DPA	~$2k–10k+/mo

Detail + the demand-gated roadmap: docs/ROADMAP.md.

Docs

• docs/DEPLOYMENT.md — how to run it, configure it, and the honest production checklist
• docs/API_REFERENCE.md — the control-plane HTTP endpoints
• docs/INTEGRATIONS.md — wire LangChain / CrewAI / AutoGen / LlamaIndex to any protocol
• docs/CONNECTORS.md — reach GitHub / Slack / Notion / … via their MCP servers (no connectors to build)
• docs/ENTERPRISE.md — policy engine v2, RBAC, OIDC SSO, signed audit checkpoints
• docs/ROADMAP.md — what's done, known limitations, and what's deferred (honest)
• docs/PROTOCOL_SUPPORT.md — the protocol support matrix + conformance approach
• docs/LIVE_AGENT_TESTING.md — how the bridge is tested against real, running agents
• docs/PROTOBUF_A2A.md — notes on A2A's JSON-RPC vs protobuf wire formats
• docs/BENCHMARKS.md — measured in-process overhead (reproduce with tools/benchmark.py)
• CONTRIBUTING.md — setup, ground rules, and the add-a-protocol recipe
• AI_DISCLOSURE.md — transparency on AI-assisted development

License

Apache 2.0