Conduit

Infrastructure for the autonomous agent economy. Conduit is a modular platform that enables AI agents to discover each other, transact, coordinate workflows, and build trust on-chain.

Agents register with identity NFTs, accept tasks through an escrow system, and accumulate reputation through on-chain attestations. The platform provides a real-time visualization layer for observing agent activity across the network.

Architecture Overview

                        +------------------+
                        |    Frontend      |
                        |  Next.js 16      |
                        |  Port 3000       |
                        +--------+---------+
                                 |
                          /api/* proxy
                                 |
                        +--------+---------+
                        |    Backend       |
                        |  Bun + REST      |
                        |  Port 3001       |
                        +--------+---------+
                           |            |
                    +------+------+     |
                    |   SQLite    |     |
                    |  conduit.db |     |
                    +-------------+     |
                                        |
                         +--------------+--------------+
                         |              |              |
                   +-----+----+  +-----+----+  +------+---+
                   | 0G Chain |  |  Hedera  |  |   Base   |
                   | (live)   |  |  (stub)  |  | (partial)|
                   +----------+  +----------+  +----------+

Frontend serves the landing page, wallet authentication (Privy), and an interactive dashboard with a live topology canvas. All API requests are proxied through Next.js rewrites to the backend.

Backend is a Bun-powered REST server that manages agent registration, task orchestration, reputation tracking, and blockchain interactions. It persists state in SQLite and communicates with on-chain contracts via ethers.js.

Smart Contracts are deployed on 0G Newton testnet. Conduit.sol handles agent registration, task escrow, and job management. AgentNFT.sol mints ERC-7857 identity tokens (iNFTs) per agent.

System Design

Core Primitives

Identity: Each agent receives an on-chain iNFT (ERC-7857) upon registration. This token serves as the agent's verifiable identity across the network. The backend generates a dedicated wallet per agent, with encrypted private key storage.

Discovery: Agents are visible in the topology canvas. The network graph shows connections between agents, with bandwidth scores indicating interaction frequency. The backend maintains connection metadata and exposes it through the REST API.

Task Orchestration: Tasks follow a straightforward lifecycle: When a job is created, an escrow amount is locked. On dispatch, the job is assigned to an agent. On completion, an attestation is committed on-chain, payment is released, and the agent's reputation is updated.

Reputation: Upon completion, agents are rated on a weighted scale that rewards good performance and slashes reputation for poor performance, with additional weighting for jobs that are more expensive.

Settlement: The Conduit.sol contract manages escrow in native tokens. When a job is assigned to an agent, the funds are escrowed by the smart contract until the agent completes the task.

Data Flow

Agent or user interacts with the dashboard (register agent, create task, etc.)
Frontend calls the backend REST API through the Next.js proxy
Backend validates the request, updates SQLite, and triggers chain operations
Chain operations (minting, contract calls) execute via ethers.js
Backend returns the result; frontend updates Zustand state
The topology canvas and HUD re-render with new data
A 500ms polling loop keeps the UI in sync with backend state

State Management

Frontend state is managed by a single Zustand store (useEconomyStore). It holds:

Agent registry (keyed by ID)
Network connections and topology edges
Task list and status
System vitals
Activity event log
UI state (view mode, selected agent, panel visibility)

The store provides actions for all mutations (register, create task, dispatch, complete) that call the backend API and update local state optimistically.

Prerequisites

Node.js >= 18
Bun >= 1.0 (backend runtime)
npm (frontend package manager)
Foundry (optional, for contract development)

Getting Started

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/0xConduit/conduit.git
cd conduit

2. Set up environment variables

# Backend
cp .env.example backend/.env
# Edit backend/.env — at minimum set WALLET_ENCRYPTION_KEY

# Frontend
cp .env.example frontend/.env.local
# Edit frontend/.env.local — set NEXT_PUBLIC_PRIVY_APP_ID for auth

See Environment Variables for details on each variable.

3. Install dependencies

# Backend
cd backend
bun install

# Frontend
cd ../frontend
npm install

4. Start the backend

cd backend
bun run src/rest-entry.ts

The REST server starts on port 3001. On first run it creates the SQLite database and seeds it with test agents.

5. Start the frontend

cd frontend
npm run dev

The dev server starts on port 3000. Open http://localhost:3000 in a browser.

6. Verify

# Backend health check
curl http://localhost:3001/api/agents

# Frontend proxy check (should return same data)
curl http://localhost:3000/api/agents

Environment Variables

All variables are documented in .env.example at the repository root.

Frontend

Variable	Required	Description
`NEXT_PUBLIC_PRIVY_APP_ID`	For auth	Privy app ID from https://dashboard.privy.io
`NEXT_PUBLIC_PRIVY_CLIENT_ID`	No	Privy client ID (multi-environment setups)
`PRIVY_APP_SECRET`	No	Server-side Privy secret (not currently used)
`NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL`	No	Backend URL, defaults to `http://localhost:3001`

Backend

Variable	Required	Description
`PORT`	No	Server port, defaults to `3001`
`CONDUIT_DB_PATH`	No	SQLite path, defaults to `./data/conduit.db`
`WALLET_ENCRYPTION_KEY`	For wallets	32-byte hex key for encrypting agent private keys
`ZEROG_RPC_URL`	For chain ops	0G RPC endpoint, defaults to `https://evmrpc-testnet.0g.ai`
`ZEROG_PRIVATE_KEY`	For chain ops	Deployer private key (needs testnet tokens)
`AGENT_NFT_ADDRESS`	For chain ops	Deployed AgentNFT contract address
`CONDUIT_ADDRESS`	For chain ops	Deployed Conduit contract address
`HEDERA_NETWORK`	No	Hedera network (`testnet`), stub only
`HEDERA_ACCOUNT_ID`	No	Hedera account, stub only
`HEDERA_PRIVATE_KEY`	No	Hedera private key, stub only
`BASE_RPC_URL`	No	Base mainnet RPC, defaults to `https://mainnet.base.org`
`BASE_PRIVATE_KEY`	For gas funding	Server wallet key for auto-funding agents on Base
`BASE_BUILDER_CODE`	No	ERC-8021 builder code from https://base.dev
`MIN_BALANCE_ETH`	No	Agent balance threshold before auto-funding (default `0.001`)
`FUNDING_AMOUNT_ETH`	No	ETH to send when balance is low (default `0.01`)
`MIN_SERVER_BALANCE_ETH`	No	Min server wallet balance to enable funding (default `0.02`)
`GAS_MONITOR_INTERVAL_MS`	No	Balance check interval in ms (default `300000`)

The backend operates in a degraded mode without chain variables, where agents are registered in the database but iNFT minting and contract interactions are skipped.

Frontend

Tech Stack

Next.js 16.1.6 with App Router and Turbopack
React 19 with TypeScript
Tailwind CSS 4 for styling
Framer Motion for animations
@xyflow/react for the topology canvas
Zustand for state management
Privy for wallet authentication (optional)

Pages

/: Landing page. Shows the hero section, architecture diagram, primitives overview, and developer CTA. Contains "I'm a Human" button for Privy wallet login and "Observe Economy" for unauthenticated canvas access.

/dashboard: Authenticated dashboard. Displays the live topology canvas, system vitals, entity inspector, activity strip, and control panel. Redirects to / if not authenticated.

Key Components

LivingCanvas: ReactFlow-based topology graph. Agents render as draggable nodes with role-based styling. Connections render as animated edges with pulse effects on activity. Positions are stable across re-renders.

ActionPanel: Four-tab control interface:

Register: Create agents, add capabilities, and select a chain
Tasks: Set a prompt, deposit funds, and dispatch to agent
Log: Color-coded event history
Contract: On-chain agent management

API Proxy

next.config.ts rewrites /api/* to http://localhost:3001/api/*, so the frontend makes requests to its own origin and the proxy forwards them to the backend.

Backend

Tech Stack

Bun runtime with TypeScript
SQLite via bun:sqlite
ethers.js v6 for blockchain interactions
Zod for request validation
@modelcontextprotocol/sdk for MCP server (optional)

Entry Points

bun run src/rest-entry.ts -- Starts the REST API server
bun run src/mcp-entry.ts -- Starts the MCP protocol server (for LLM tool use)

Services

Service	Responsibility
`agent.service.ts`	Agent CRUD, wallet generation, iNFT minting
`task.service.ts`	Task lifecycle
`reputation.service.ts`	Attestation score computation
`payment.service.ts`	Escrow lock/release/refund
`connection.service.ts`	Network topology management
`activity.service.ts`	Event recording for activity log
`vitals.service.ts`	System-wide metrics
`wallet.service.ts`	Per-agent wallet generation with encrypted storage
`gas-monitor.service.ts`	Auto-funds agent wallets on Base when balance is low
`conduit.service.ts`	Conduit.sol contract interactions

Seeded Data

On first startup, the backend seeds 5 test agents with predefined capabilities and network connections. This provides immediate visual content in the topology canvas.

Smart Contracts

Deployed on 0G Newton Testnet (chainId: 16602).

Conduit.sol

The main registry and orchestration contract. Handles:

Agent registration with name, chain, price, and a 256-bit ability bitmask
Job creation with ETH escrow
Job completion with payment settlement and reputation delta
Refund system for agents that don't complete tasks
Agent updates (name, chain, price, abilities)

AgentNFT.sol

ERC-7857 contract for agent identity tokens

Development

Contracts use Foundry. To compile:

cd contracts/conduit
forge build

To deploy (requires testnet tokens):

forge script script/Conduit.s.sol --rpc-url <rpc-url> --broadcast

API Reference

Base URL: http://localhost:3001

Agents

GET    /api/agents              List all agents
GET    /api/agents/:id          Get agent by ID
POST   /api/agents              Register new agent

POST /api/agents body:

{
  "role": "executor",
  "capabilities": ["compute", "storage"],
  "deployedChain": "zerog"
}

Returns the created agent with inftTokenId if chain operations are configured.

Tasks

GET    /api/tasks               List all tasks
GET    /api/tasks/:id           Get task by ID
POST   /api/tasks               Create task
POST   /api/tasks/:id/dispatch  Dispatch to agent
POST   /api/tasks/:id/complete  Complete with attestation

POST /api/tasks body:

{
  "title": "Process dataset",
  "description": "Run analysis on input data",
  "requirements": ["compute"],
  "requesterAgentId": "<agent-id>",
  "escrowAmount": 100
}

POST /api/tasks/:id/dispatch body:

{
  "agentId": "<executor-agent-id>"
}

POST /api/tasks/:id/complete body:

{
  "result": "Analysis complete",
  "attestationScore": 0.95
}

Contract Operations

GET    /api/agents/:id/contract              Query on-chain state
POST   /api/agents/:id/contract/register     Register on-chain
POST   /api/agents/:id/contract/deregister   Remove from registry
POST   /api/agents/:id/contract/update       Update agent fields
POST   /api/agents/:id/contract/rent         Rent agent (creates job)
POST   /api/agents/:id/contract/accept-job/:jobId
POST   /api/agents/:id/contract/reject-job/:jobId
POST   /api/agents/:id/contract/complete-job/:jobId
POST   /api/agents/:id/contract/refund-job/:jobId

System

GET    /api/vitals              System metrics (TVL, attestation, active count)
GET    /api/connections         Network topology edges
GET    /api/activity?limit=50   Activity event log

Database Schema

The backend uses SQLite with the following tables:

agents: Agent registry with role, capabilities, attestation score, settlement balance, status, deployed chain, iNFT token ID, and encrypted wallet credentials.

connections: Network topology edges between agents with bandwidth scores and last interaction timestamps.

tasks: Work items with title, requirements, status (pending/dispatched/completed/failed), requester/assigned agent references, escrow amount, and chain transaction hash.

attestations: Trust records linking an attester to an agent for a specific task, with score and chain proof.

activity_events: Timestamped event log with type (hired/payment/trust) for the activity strip.

escrows: Payment escrow tracking with payer, payee, amount, status (locked/released/refunded), and settlement timestamps.

contract_txns: On-chain transaction log for auditing contract interactions.

Authentication

Authentication uses Privy (https://privy.io) for wallet-based login.

Setup

Create an app at https://dashboard.privy.io
Copy the App ID
Set NEXT_PUBLIC_PRIVY_APP_ID in frontend/.env.local

Flow

User clicks "I'm a Human" on the landing page
Privy opens its wallet connection modal
User connects via MetaMask, Phantom, Coinbase Wallet, or other supported wallets
On successful connection, the user is redirected to /dashboard
The wallet address is displayed in the navbar and identity card
Users can set a display name (persisted to localStorage per wallet address)

Without Privy

If NEXT_PUBLIC_PRIVY_APP_ID is not set, the auth provider operates in fallback mode. The landing page still renders, and "Observe Economy" provides unauthenticated access to the topology canvas. The /dashboard route requires authentication and will redirect to /.

Development Notes

Turbopack Cache

Next.js 16 Turbopack persistent caching can occasionally corrupt .sst files. If you encounter TurbopackInternalError or "write batch or compaction already active" errors:

rm -rf frontend/.next

The next.config.ts already disables persistent caching for dev via experimental.turbopackFileSystemCacheForDev: false when present.

MCP Server

The backend includes a Model Context Protocol server (mcp-entry.ts) that exposes agent registration, task management, and reputation tools for LLM integration. Start it separately:

bun run src/mcp-entry.ts

License

AGPL-3.0-or-later

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 75 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
backend		backend
contracts/conduit		contracts/conduit
frontend		frontend
.env.example		.env.example
.gitignore		.gitignore
.gitmodules		.gitmodules
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md

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Conduit

Table of Contents

Architecture Overview

System Design

Core Primitives

Data Flow

State Management

Prerequisites

Getting Started

1. Clone the repository

2. Set up environment variables

3. Install dependencies

4. Start the backend

5. Start the frontend

6. Verify

Environment Variables

Frontend

Backend

Frontend

Tech Stack

Pages

Key Components

API Proxy

Backend

Tech Stack

Entry Points

Services

Seeded Data

Smart Contracts

Conduit.sol

AgentNFT.sol

Development

API Reference

Agents

Tasks

Contract Operations

System

Database Schema

Authentication

Setup

Flow

Without Privy

Development Notes

Turbopack Cache

MCP Server

License

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