a2a-pack 0.1.79

Developer SDK + CLI for building, packaging, and deploying A2A agents.

a2a-pack

Developer SDK + CLI for building, packaging, and deploying full A2A compliant agents.

One Python class becomes a sandboxed, discoverable, MCP-compatible, full A2A compliant AI agent on the a2a cloud platform. Other agents reach yours via Ed25519-signed grants. The platform owns deployment, execution, permissions, and (when you're ready) billing.

a2a-pack makes Google's Agent2Agent protocol easy: Agent Cards, tasks, messages, artifacts, file/data exchange, streaming, auth, JSON-RPC, REST, and protocol errors are handled by the SDK runtime.

pip install a2a-pack
a2a login
a2a init research-agent
cd research-agent
a2a dev
a2a test --invoke
a2a deploy
# -> https://research-agent.a2acloud.io   (A2A, MCP, TLS, all wired)

What an agent looks like

from pydantic import BaseModel
from a2a_pack import (
    A2AAgent, LLMProvisioning, NoAuth, Pricing, RunContext, skill,
)


class GreeterConfig(BaseModel):
    suffix: str = "!"


class Greeter(A2AAgent[GreeterConfig, NoAuth]):
    name = "greeter"
    description = "Say hi."
    version = "0.1.0"
    config_model = GreeterConfig
    auth_model = NoAuth

    # Hosted generated agents use the caller's saved LLM credential. The
    # platform routes it through LiteLLM and exposes it via ctx.llm at invoke time.
    llm_provisioning = LLMProvisioning.PLATFORM
    pricing = Pricing(price_per_call_usd=0.01, caller_pays_llm=True)

    @skill(description="Greet someone.")
    async def greet(self, ctx: RunContext[NoAuth], who: str) -> str:
        await ctx.emit_progress(f"greeting {who}")
        return f"hello {who}{self.config.suffix}"

That's it. a2a deploy packages the source, the control plane builds the image, ArgoCD reconciles, you get a full A2A compliant public URL.

Local development

Use the same agent card, invoke path, secret names, and workspace contract before uploading anything:

a2a dev

That starts the agent at http://127.0.0.1:8000, loads .env.local, creates .a2a/workspace/{inputs,outputs}, and enables hot reload. Skills are callable at POST /invoke/{skill} and the card is visible at /.well-known/agent-card.

It also serves a bundled local console at http://127.0.0.1:8000/_dev with drag-and-drop file upload into inputs/, workspace file previews/downloads, schema-derived skill inputs, streaming progress, and final results.

Packed frontends

Agents can ship with a static frontend app mounted by the same runtime:

a2a init chart-agent --frontend static
a2a init chart-agent --frontend react
a2a init private-app --frontend react --auth platform
a2a frontend build
a2a dev

The manifest lives in a2a.yaml:

frontend:
  path: frontend
  build: npm run build   # optional for prebuilt static bundles
  dist: dist
  mount: /app
  auth: inherit

Use --auth platform to scaffold a packed app that requires an A2A Cloud session. The generated agent uses PlatformUserAuth, so skill code can read ctx.auth.user_id, ctx.auth.email, ctx.auth.org_slug, and ctx.auth.scopes without wiring OAuth itself. Hosted deployments verify the HttpOnly platform session cookie against the control plane; trusted identity headers are opt-in for gateway deployments.

At runtime the agent serves the app and generated contract data:

Path	Purpose
/app/	Packed frontend app
/app/config.json	Agent name, endpoints, auth mode, docs URL, skill schemas
/app/a2a-client.js	Browser client for agent.call(...) and agent.skills.<name>(...)
/.well-known/a2a-skills.json	Skill names, scopes, input schemas, output schemas
/auth/session	Local dev session, or platform-provided user/session metadata

Deploys either copy a prebuilt frontend/dist bundle or run frontend.build inside a Node build stage before the Python A2A runtime starts.

The React scaffold creates a Vite app with a generated skill runner. Start a2a dev in one terminal and npm run dev inside frontend/ in another; Vite proxies /app/config.json, /invoke, /auth, /mcp, and /.well-known to the local agent runtime.

Run preflight checks before deploy:

a2a test
a2a test --invoke --skill summarize --args-json '{"text":"hello"}'

Secrets stay local in .env.local. Workspace-backed framework tools, including DeepAgents via ctx.workspace_backend(), write durable local outputs under .a2a/workspace/outputs so you can inspect what will become downloadable files in A2A Cloud.

If your skill runs code that creates files, use ctx.workspace_shell(...) or ctx.workspace_python(...). Those commands run in the platform sandbox with the caller's workspace mounted, so /workspace/... writes persist directly and changed files elsewhere in the sandbox root filesystem are mirrored under outputs/rootfs-captures/.... Plain in-process subprocess calls inside the agent container are not workspace-mounted or rootfs-captured.

Composable meta-agents

A meta-agent is still an A2AAgent. It adds a declarative manifest that names the child agents it may call, the durable goal it should pursue, and the memory tiers it may use. The generated runtime inherits MetaAgent.pursue: plan a bounded raw-skill DAG, validate it against the manifest, execute through ctx.call, replan on failure within limits, persist progress, and remember the run.

name: launch-report-meta
version: 0.1.0
entrypoint: agent:LaunchReportMeta

composition:
  planning: llm_dag
  max_nodes: 6
  max_parallel: 2
  max_replans: 1
  sub_agents:
    - name: search-agent
      version: 1.2.3
      skills: [search]
      default_args:
        region: us
    - name: summarizer-agent
      skills: [summarize]
    - tag: charting
      skills: [render_chart]
      required: false

goal:
  objective: Create a sourced launch report with a chart.
  success_criteria:
    - report cites source material
    - chart is produced
  constraints:
    - do not call undeclared agents

memory:
  tiers: [files, kv, vector]
  namespace: launch-report
  scope: agent
  retention: durable

Manifest fields are intentionally small:

Block	Purpose
composition.sub_agents[]	Allow-list of callable child agents by exact name or discovery tag; optional version, allowed skills, default_args, and required.
composition.max_nodes / max_parallel / max_replans	Hard planning and execution limits for the DAG engine.
goal	Default objective, success criteria, and constraints for pursue.
memory	Long-term memory policy. files uses workspace memory; kv and vector use control-plane memory and require wants_cp_jwt=True.

The same manifest is surfaced on the Agent Card under capabilities.meta_agent. Secret values in default_args are not exposed; the card only advertises default argument keys.

Template Lineage

Generated or copied agents can opt into template update tracking with TemplateLineage. This publishes where the instance came from and what update behavior the owner allows. It is advisory metadata: platforms can notify, propose, or run a controlled migration, but they still need the owner's normal authorization, review, proof, and deployment gates.

from a2a_pack import A2AAgent, TemplateLineage


class SmtpEmailSender(A2AAgent):
    name = "smtp-email-sender"
    description = "Send HTML email through caller-provided SMTP."
    template_lineage = TemplateLineage(
        template_ref="a2acloud/templates/smtp-email-agent",
        template_version="0.3.0",
        source_agent="smtp-email-template",
        source_revision="abc123",
        instance_version="0.1.0",
        update_policy="propose",
        update_channel="stable",
        migration_skill="apply_template_update",
    )

The same primitive can be declared in a2a.yaml:

template_lineage:
  template_ref: a2acloud/templates/smtp-email-agent
  template_version: 0.3.0
  source_agent: smtp-email-template
  source_revision: abc123
  instance_version: 0.1.0
  update_policy: propose
  update_channel: stable
  migration_skill: apply_template_update

update_policy is opt-in and can be none, notify, propose, or auto_patch. The Agent Card omits template_lineage unless the agent declares lineage or an update policy.

Runtime APIs

API	What it does
ctx.subagents.list_subagents(...) / get_subagent(...)	Discover callable child agents by tag, capability, skill, or name.
ctx.subagents.call_subagent(...)	Call a child skill and optionally mint a narrowed workspace grant for that child.
subagent_tools(ctx)	Return LangChain-compatible list_subagents and call_subagent tools for DeepAgents loops.
ctx.memory.for_manifest(manifest.memory, agent_name=...)	Unified facade over file, KV, and vector memory with remember, recall, search, and log helpers.
ctx.meta_runs	Control-plane backed goal/plan/progress persistence for dashboard run views and resumability.
run_meta_agent_goal(...)	Lower-level deterministic DAG plan/execute/replan loop used by MetaAgent.pursue.
ctx.composition_budget	Recursive composition guardrail: max depth, cycle detection, call budget, and optional child LLM budget split.

Recursive safety limits are enforced on every ctx.call and transported to children. The defaults are depth 4 and calls 32; operators can cap them with A2A_COMPOSITION_MAX_DEPTH and A2A_COMPOSITION_MAX_CALLS.

Compose and deploy

The control plane accepts the same manifest at POST /v1/agents/compose:

{
  "name": "launch-report-meta",
  "description": "Builds sourced launch reports from specialist agents.",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "public": true,
  "manifest": {
    "composition": {
      "max_nodes": 6,
      "max_parallel": 2,
      "sub_agents": [
        {"name": "search-agent", "skills": ["search"]},
        {"name": "summarizer-agent", "skills": ["summarize"]}
      ]
    },
    "goal": "Create a sourced launch report.",
    "memory": ["files", "kv"]
  }
}

You can also send top-level composition, goal, and memory fields instead of manifest. The compose path generates an editable A2APack project (agent.py, a2a.yaml, requirements.txt, meta_agent_manifest.json), validates child agent refs and per-user child auth setup, imports the generated card, dry-runs a stubbed DAG, sandbox-validates the generated source, then deploys through the normal source/runtime pipeline.

The conversational agent-builder path writes and edits this same manifest from natural language, then routes through the compose endpoint. That keeps dashboard compose, builder compose, and generated source on one contract.

Run the local worked example:

cd apps/a2a
PYTHONPATH=. python -m examples.meta_agent_research

It creates three in-memory specialist agents, runs a deterministic manifest-backed MetaAgent, executes a DAG, and prints the memory files written under memory/....

Bring your own auth

Agents can make caller identity explicit by declaring an auth_model and an auth_resolver. The resolver receives the inbound bearer token, validates it against your auth system, and returns the typed principal skills read from ctx.auth.

from a2a_pack import A2AAgent, JWTAuth, OIDCUserInfoAuthResolver, RunContext, skill


class CustomerAgent(A2AAgent):
    name = "customer-agent"
    description = "Uses the caller's app login"
    auth_model = JWTAuth
    auth_resolver = OIDCUserInfoAuthResolver(
        "https://auth.example.com/oauth2/userinfo",
        auth_model=JWTAuth,
    )

    @skill(scopes=["profile:read"])
    async def profile(self, ctx: RunContext[JWTAuth]) -> dict[str, str | None]:
        return {"sub": ctx.auth.sub, "email": ctx.auth.email}

For custom APIs, subclass AuthResolver and call your own /me, /introspect, or session-exchange endpoint. SAML-backed apps use the same contract by exposing a bearer-token bridge endpoint that returns JSON.

Public surface

Concept	Where
A2AAgent base class + @skill decorator	a2a_pack.agent
RunContext, ctx.llm, ctx.ask, ctx.request_scope, ctx.ensure_read, ctx.ensure_write	a2a_pack.context
Grant mint/verify (Ed25519, audience-bound, glob-filtered, time-limited)	a2a_pack.grants
Workspace negotiation surface	a2a_pack.workspace
Sandbox client (microVM via libkrun)	a2a_pack.sandbox
Agent-to-agent client (HTTP, in-memory, custom)	a2a_pack.a2a_client
Sub-agent toolkit, manifest-backed meta-agents, DAG engine, unified memory	a2a_pack.subagents, a2a_pack.meta_agent, a2a_pack.dag, a2a_pack.memory
MCP server (skills → tools, mountable into your FastAPI app)	a2a_pack.mcp
Lifecycle / Resources / Pricing / LLMProvisioning declarations	a2a_pack.runtime
Card schema (auto-derived from your class)	a2a_pack.card

A2A made easy

• Subclass A2AAgent.
• Decorate async methods with @skill.
• Use RunContext for progress, auth/input requests, artifacts, scoped files, sandbox execution, and agent-to-agent calls.
• Run a2a deploy; the runtime exposes full A2A plus MCP and HTTPS.

Full reference + auto-generated docs at https://docs.a2acloud.io.

Self-hosting

The platform pieces (control plane, sandbox runtime, gitea, ArgoCD, MinIO, LiteLLM) live at gitea.a2acloud.io — the SDK is the only piece you need on PyPI. If you want to run the whole stack locally or in your own cluster, the bootstrap recipe is in the platform README.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.