ChatPanel Bridge

A tiny localhost server that lets the ChatPanel Chrome extension talk to the coding agents on your machine. A browser extension can't spawn local processes, so this bridges the gap.

• Claude Code — embedded via @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk, using your existing Claude Code login (or ANTHROPIC_API_KEY).
• Codex — driven via the codex exec CLI, using your codex login.
• Antigravity CLI — driven via the agy -p CLI, using your Antigravity login. This is Google's successor to Gemini CLI; Gemini CLI itself remains available for business/enterprise (paid API keys) and can be added as a custom agent.

Bring whichever agent you already have installed — the extension auto-detects the ones the bridge reports as available.

Run it

macOS / Linux — one line, no Node.js needed

curl -fsSL https://dl.chatpanel.net/bridge/install.sh | bash

Downloads the standalone binary, installs it, and sets it to start at login (installing via curl avoids the macOS "damaged" prompt). Re-running is a clean in-place upgrade.

Windows — via Node (recommended)

Windows SmartScreen flags unsigned downloads, so on Windows run the bridge through Node — you already have it if you use Claude Code / Codex (both npm CLIs), and there's no security prompt:

npm i -g @chatpanel/bridge
chatpanel-bridge --install      # starts hidden at login

Just trying it? npx @chatpanel/bridge runs it once in the foreground.

Manage it anywhere: chatpanel-bridge --status · --uninstall.

Manual download

Grab the binary from the latest release and:

# macOS (clear the download quarantine first, then install)
xattr -cr chatpanel-bridge-macos-arm64
chmod +x chatpanel-bridge-macos-arm64
./chatpanel-bridge-macos-arm64 --install

# Windows (PowerShell) — click "More info → Run anyway" if SmartScreen warns
.\chatpanel-bridge-windows-x64.exe --install

These binaries aren't code-signed yet, so macOS/Windows may warn on first run (the curl/npm routes above sidestep that). Intel Mac? No x64 binary yet — use npm (npx @chatpanel/bridge). Apple Silicon uses chatpanel-bridge-macos-arm64.

Prerequisites

The agents you want to use must already be set up:

• Claude Code: installed and signed in (claude), or set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.
• Codex: codex on your PATH and codex login done.
• Antigravity CLI: agy on your PATH and signed in (install the Antigravity app, then run agy once to sign in). Replaces Gemini CLI; business/enterprise users can still run gemini as a custom agent.

The extension polls /health and shows each agent as available/unavailable.

Develop (from source)

Only if you're hacking on the bridge itself:

git clone https://github.com/chatpanel/chatpanel-bridge
cd chatpanel-bridge
npm install
npm start                    # → http://127.0.0.1:4319

API

/chat streams Server-Sent Events: {type:'delta',text} as the answer is generated, {type:'tool',name,summary} / {type:'status'} for activity, and a final {type:'done'} (or {type:'error',error}).

Use your skills from any CLI

The bridge discovers the skills installed on your machine — Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, Gemini, Hermes, ~/.agents/skills, and any folder you configure — and exposes them as MCP tools (chatpanel_skill_list / _open / _read). Point any MCP client at http://127.0.0.1:4319/mcp and it can list and load them with no browser open.

For one server that adds your local history (chats, meetings, notes — redacted) alongside your skills, add the Privacy Gateway instead and point your CLI at chatpanel-gateway mcp. The gateway proxies these skill tools and puts redaction in front.

options per agent (set in ChatPanel Settings):

{
  "workingDir": "/path/to/project",   // where the agent reads/works
  "permissionMode": "default",         // default | acceptEdits | bypassPermissions
  "model": ""                          // optional model override
}

OpenAI and Anthropic SDK compatibility

The compatibility routes run a local coding agent; they do not call a provider API. Use the per-install token from ~/.chatpanel/bridge-token as the SDK API key. The token protects endpoints that can start local processes, so do not put it in browser-delivered code or share it.

For OpenAI clients, set the base URL to http://127.0.0.1:4319/v1 and use an installed agent id such as codex as the model:

import OpenAI from 'openai';
import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';

const client = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: readFileSync(`${process.env.HOME}/.chatpanel/bridge-token`, 'utf8').trim(),
  baseURL: 'http://127.0.0.1:4319/v1',
});

const result = await client.responses.create({
  model: 'codex',
  input: 'Explain this project in three bullets.',
});
console.log(result.output_text);

client.chat.completions.create(...) and legacy client.completions.create(...) work through the same base URL. For the Anthropic SDK, use http://127.0.0.1:4319 as its base URL and the same token as its API key; requests to /v1/messages can also use model: "codex".

The model field selects the local agent. codex/gpt-5.5, for example, selects the Codex agent and passes gpt-5.5 as its CLI model override. Advanced bridge settings can be supplied through an extra chatpanel request object:

{
  "model": "codex",
  "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Fix the failing tests." }],
  "chatpanel": {
    "working_dir": "/absolute/path/to/project",
    "permission_mode": "acceptEdits",
    "use_local_config": true
  }
}

The adapter currently covers text conversations. Provider-hosted function tools, stored responses, log probabilities, and exact token accounting are not available; unsupported tool requests return HTTP 400, and usage counts are zero.

Safety

• Binds to 127.0.0.1 only. Every request must carry a loopback Host (no DNS rebinding) and, if it has an Origin, an allowed one (no web page).
• Who may run an agent. The routes that start a local process need a paired caller: ChatPanel's published Chrome/Edge extension (recognised by its extension id — a browser never lets one extension send another's origin) or the per-install token in ~/.chatpanel/bridge-token (0600; the desktop app and CLIs read it). An extension the bridge does not recognise — including ChatPanel's own Firefox build, whose origin is a per-profile UUID — may still chat, but the run is capped to the conversational tier: no files, no shell, no web, and no working directory, workspace, credential or permission-mode option from the request body. The reply tells the user why.
• Pairing. chatpanel-bridge pair prints a one-time code (5 minutes, 5 attempts). Enter it in ChatPanel → Settings → Coding Agents and that browser holds the token from then on. A dev build can instead be pinned by id: CHATPANEL_BRIDGE_EXTENSION_IDS=<id>. Ask the bridge what it thinks of you with POST /whoami → { trust, paired }.
• Claude tools are read-only by default (Read/Grep/Glob/WebFetch). Writes and shell only run when an agent's permission mode is acceptEdits or bypassPermissions.
• Point each agent at a working directory you trust.

Run as a background service (optional)

macOS (launchd) example — save to ~/Library/LaunchAgents/app.chatpanel.bridge.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<plist version="1.0"><dict>
  <key>Label</key><string>app.chatpanel.bridge</string>
  <key>ProgramArguments</key>
  <array><string>/usr/local/bin/node</string><string>/ABSOLUTE/PATH/chatpanel/bridge/src/server.js</string></array>
  <key>RunAtLoad</key><true/>
  <key>KeepAlive</key><true/>
</dict></plist>

Then launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/app.chatpanel.bridge.plist.

License

PolyForm Shield License 1.0.0 — run and modify it for your own use; you may not use it to provide a product or service that competes with ChatPanel. The npm package and the binaries ship minified. What the bridge does is documented above and bounded by design: it listens on 127.0.0.1 only, drives the CLI agents you already have with your own logins, and sends nothing anywhere itself — every outbound connection you see from it is one of your agents talking to its own vendor. Privacy questions: [email protected]; security reports: [email protected].

Trademarks & brand

The name “ChatPanel”, the logo, and brand assets are trademarks of ChatPanel, not licensed under the terms above — the Shield license covers the code only. Don't redistribute a fork (e.g. to npm) under the ChatPanel name or marks.