iicp-client 0.7.1

Official Python client SDK for the IICP protocol

iicp-client · Python SDK

Official Python client library for the IICP protocol — route AI agent tasks by intent across a self-organising mesh of provider nodes. No central broker. No hardcoded endpoints.

urn:iicp:intent:llm:chat:v1  →  discover  →  select  →  submit

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Install

pip install iicp-client

Requires Python ≥ 3.11 and httpx.

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Quickstart

import asyncio
from iicp_client import IicpClient, ChatMessage

async def main():
    client = IicpClient()

    # chat_async discovers, selects best node, and submits in one call
    response = await client.chat_async(
        messages=[ChatMessage(role="user", content="Hello from IICP!")],
    )
    print(response.choices[0].message.content)

asyncio.run(main())

Synchronous wrapper for scripts and notebooks:

from iicp_client import IicpClient, ChatMessage

client   = IicpClient()
response = client.chat([ChatMessage(role="user", content="Hello from IICP!")])
print(response.choices[0].message.content)

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Configuration

from iicp_client import ClientConfig

config = ClientConfig(
    directory_url = "https://iicp.network",  # IICP directory
    timeout_ms    = 30_000,                  # max 120 000 (SDK-04)
    region        = "eu-central",            # prefer nodes in region
)

Field	Default	Description
directory_url	"https://iicp.network"	IICP directory endpoint
timeout_ms	30000	Request timeout — max 120 000 ms
region	None	Preferred node region
max_retries	3	Retry count for transient errors

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Discover options

from iicp_client import DiscoverOptions

node_list = await client.discover_async(
    "urn:iicp:intent:llm:chat:v1",
    DiscoverOptions(
        region         = "eu-central",
        model          = "phi3:mini",
        min_reputation = 0.7,
        limit          = 5,
    )
)
nodes = node_list.nodes  # list of Node objects

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Error handling

from iicp_client import IicpClient, IicpError, ChatMessage

client = IicpClient()
try:
    response = client.chat([ChatMessage(role="user", content="hi")])
except IicpError as e:
    print(f"[{e.code}] {e.message}  (HTTP {e.http_status})")

Error codes match the IICP error reference — e.g. task_timeout, capacity_exceeded, no_nodes_available.

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Serving as a provider node

import asyncio
from iicp_client import IicpNode, NodeConfig

async def my_handler(task):
    return {"choices": [{"message": {"role": "assistant", "content": "Hello!"}}]}

async def main():
    node = IicpNode(NodeConfig(
        node_id="my-node-001",
        endpoint="http://my.public.host:8020",
        intent="urn:iicp:intent:llm:chat:v1",
        model="llama3:8b",
    ))
    token = await node.register()
    stop = node.serve(my_handler, port=8020, node_token=token)
    try:
        await asyncio.Event().wait()  # run until stopped
    finally:
        stop()

asyncio.run(main())

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NAT traversal — v0.7.0

IICP nodes pick the best available NAT path automatically (ADR-041):

Tier	Method	Requirement
0	Direct — publicly routable	Open port 8020
1	UPnP/IGD port mapping	Home router with UPnP
2	IPv6 firewall pinhole	IPv6 + UPnP/IGD2
3	Relay-as-last-resort	A relay operator in the mesh

Relay-as-last-resort lets a node behind CGNAT stay reachable by binding an outbound channel to a public relay node that forwards inbound tasks down it.

Running a relay-capable node (relay operator)

node = IicpNode(NodeConfig(
    node_id="relay-eu-01",
    endpoint="http://relay.example.com:8020",
    intent="urn:iicp:intent:llm:chat:v1",
    relay_capable=True,      # accept RELAY_BIND on port 9485
    relay_accept_port=9485,  # TCP port for CGNAT workers
    enable_mesh=True,        # gossip relay_capable=True to peers
))

Node behind CGNAT (connects outbound to relay)

node = IicpNode(NodeConfig(
    node_id="cgnat-worker-001",
    endpoint="http://placeholder",        # overwritten on bind
    intent="urn:iicp:intent:llm:chat:v1",
    relay_worker_endpoint="relay.example.com:9485",  # outbound target
    # or: env IICP_RELAY_WORKER_ENDPOINT=relay.example.com:9485
))

When the worker binds, it deregisters its placeholder endpoint and re-registers with the relay's public address (transport_method=turn_relay), making it discoverable.

Relay election (R3)

When multiple relay-capable peers are known from gossip, the SDK elects the best one deterministically: lowest relay_load, with SHA-256(workerId:relayId) as a tiebreak so multiple workers spread uniformly across the relay pool.

from iicp_client import PeerManager

pm = PeerManager("https://iicp.network/api", enable_mesh=True)
# elect_relay() is called automatically by node.serve() on tier-3 detection.
elected = pm.elect_relay("my-worker-id")
if elected:
    print(f"Elected relay: {elected['_relay_host']}:{elected['_relay_port']}")

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SDK conformance

Rule	Description	Status
SDK-01	discover → select → submit pipeline with node retry	✓
SDK-02	task_id auto-generated (UUID v4)	✓
SDK-03	Intent URN pattern validation	✓
SDK-04	timeout_ms capped at 120 000 ms	✓
SDK-05	Retry on 429 / 503 with exponential back-off	✓
SDK-06	W3C traceparent propagation	✓

Conformance tier: iicp:sdk:v1 (spec S.14) · Request a badge

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Development

pip install -e ".[dev]"   # install with dev deps
pytest tests/ -v          # run 213 unit tests
ruff check src tests       # lint

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Links

• Protocol spec — full IICP specification
• Node setup guide — run your own node
• Error reference — all error codes
• iicp-client-typescript — TypeScript SDK
• iicp-client-rust — Rust SDK

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Apache 2.0 · iicp.network