Four messaging patterns, React hooks, a C# node host, three auth modes, service discovery, and deep LLM provider support — all in one protocol.
Choose the right communication pattern at the call site. ANCP routes and delivers each pattern correctly — no custom transport logic needed.
Returns 202 Accepted immediately. The caller is never blocked. Work executes in the background on the receiving node with no response channel needed.
Synchronous — blocks until a typed response is received. The protocol handles serialisation, error propagation, and correlation ID matching automatically.
Real-time chunk delivery via Server-Sent Events. The handler yields chunks as they are produced; the client receives them as they arrive.
Returns a taskId immediately. The task runs asynchronously; the caller polls for state: Running, Completed, Failed, or Cancelled.
One protocol connects to any language model. Per-model cost tracking — TextInputCost and TextOutputCost per 1M tokens — stored automatically for every call.
Recommended provider for agentic workloads. Supported models:
Full GPT model family with unified request normalisation. Supported models:
Run your own models with zero data leaving your infrastructure. Supported runtimes:
Install @bizfirst/ancp-react and get fully typed, reactive hooks for every messaging pattern. No boilerplate — the provider handles auth, connection, and state.
Wraps your app with the ANCP React context. Configure once at the root — baseUrl, nodeId, and auth. All child hooks consume this context automatically.
Typed hook for request-reply invocations. Returns invoke, isLoading, data, error, and reset. Generic over payload and result types for full TypeScript safety.
Streaming hook for SSE-backed actions. Exposes start, stop, chunks, isStreaming, and isDone — purpose-built for live LLM output in chat UIs.
Long-task hook that manages task lifecycle automatically. Provides start, cancel, status (state, progress), and isRunning — handles polling under the hood.
Queries the discovery endpoint and returns the list of all available actions and their patterns. Enables dynamic UIs that adapt to the available node capabilities at runtime.
The BizFirst.Ancp.Node host handles HTTP transport, envelope parsing, authentication, and routing. You register typed handlers — ANCP does everything else.
Register a request-reply handler: Ancp.OnInvoke<TPayload, TResult>('action', async ctx => {...}). Returns a typed result synchronously to the caller.
Register a one-way handler: Ancp.OnFireAndForget<TPayload>('action', async ctx => {...}). Caller receives 202 immediately; handler runs to completion asynchronously.
Register a streaming handler: Ancp.OnStream<TPayload, TChunk>('action', async ctx => { yield return chunk; }). Chunks are pushed to the SSE stream as the handler yields them.
Register a long-running task handler: Ancp.OnTask<TPayload, TResult>('action', async (ctx, ct) => {...}). Returns a taskId immediately; the task is tracked and pollable.
Every handler receives a fully typed context object with: Payload, NodeId, CallerNodeId, TenantId, CallerTenantId, MessageId, CorrelationId, Timestamp, and Extensions.
Enterprise-grade security that does not require custom middleware. Every envelope carries the full identity and tenant context needed for isolation, tracing, and billing.
Choose the authentication model that fits your deployment:
Every IEnvelope carries TenantId and CallerTenantId. The node host enforces isolation automatically — no tenant data ever crosses a boundary, even in shared infrastructure.
Built-in token cost tracking (TextInputCost + TextOutputCost per 1M tokens), payment verification for metered AI services, and a full immutable audit trail on every operation. HTTPS/TLS 1.3 required.
Every ANCP node publishes a machine-readable discovery document. Clients — and other agents — can query the node to learn what it can do before calling it.
GET /.well-known/ncp.json returns the AncpDiscoveryDocument — a complete listing of all registered actions and their messaging patterns. Cached for performance (100ms typical).
Every ANCP node exposes built-in system actions out of the box:
ANCP carries the full Octopus AgentComposite — system prompt, capabilities, tools, conversations, memory, workflows, hooks, metrics, and audit log.
Every ANCP node can host agents of the following types:
Roles define how agents interact with each other in multi-agent systems:
ANCP is not a standalone library — it is the communication backbone of the entire BizFirstAi platform.
ANCP is the communication backbone of Octopus. The chat interface sends messages via ANCP, the agent executor receives via ANCP, and streams the response token-by-token back via ANCP SSE. Every step is correlated and audited.
AI Agent Nodes and AI Function Nodes inside ProcessServer call LLMs via ANCP actions. The full request lifecycle — auth, multi-tenancy, cost tracking, audit — is handled by the ANCP transport, not custom node code.
Visual workflow nodes in FlowStudio can invoke any ANCP action as a workflow step. Drag an ANCP action onto the canvas, map the payload fields, and the visual designer handles the rest.
ANCP was designed to address the gaps in existing transport and framework choices for agentic systems.
ANCP is browser-compatible out of the box — standard fetch and SSE, no special networking, no Protobuf toolchain. JSON serialisation keeps payloads human-readable and debuggable. Auth is simpler and built in.
No broker infrastructure to deploy and maintain (no RabbitMQ, no Kafka cluster). ANCP provides request-reply natively, real-time streaming, and built-in payment verification — none of which message queues offer.
Direct LLM APIs lock you to one provider. ANCP adds multi-provider routing, workflow integration via ProcessServer, multi-tenancy, on-premise deployment capability, and custom agent orchestration — without losing access to any model.
ANCP is evolving toward autonomous multi-agent networks and decentralised AI economies.
Next-generation autonomous capabilities coming mid-2026:
Decentralised AI agent marketplace and cross-org federation:
Production ready. Enterprise grade. v1.0.2 available now.