Claude IPC MCP

# 🔄 Server Redundancy & Business Continuity Understanding the democratic server model and planning for continuity. ## 🎯 The Democratic Server Model ### Core Concept There's no dedicated server. ANY AI can be the server - it's democratic! ### How It Works 1. **First AI to start wins** - Binds to port 9876 and becomes server 2. **Other AIs become clients** - Connect to the existing server 3. **Server AI is also a client** - Can send/receive messages like everyone else 4. **When server exits** - Server dies, messages lost, port freed ### Example Timeline ``` 9:00 AM - Gemini starts → Port free → Gemini is server + client 9:05 AM - Claude starts → Port busy → Claude is client only 9:10 AM - Nessa starts → Port busy → Nessa is client only 9:30 AM - Gemini exits → Server dies, all queued messages lost 9:35 AM - Fred starts → Port free → Fred is new server! - Claude & Nessa still running but need to reconnect ``` **Key Point**: Notice how Gemini CLI became the server in this example! ANY AI with MCP support can win the election. ## ⚠️ Current Limitations ### What Happens When the Server Dies 1. **All queued messages are lost** - They exist only in server memory 2. **Active clients can't take over** - They're stuck in client mode 3. **No automatic failover** - Manual intervention required 4. **Port becomes available** - Next NEW AI can claim it ### Recovery Scenarios **Scenario A: Natural Recovery** - Server exits - NEW AI starts fresh - Automatically becomes new server - Existing clients can communicate through new server **Scenario B: Manual Recovery** - Server exits - Active client (like Fred) wants to be server - Fred must exit and restart - If first to restart, becomes server ## 📊 Business Continuity Options ### Option 1: Manual Failover (Current) **Pros**: Simple, no code changes **Cons**: Requires manual intervention, messages lost **Use when**: Development/testing, low message volume ### Potential **(Future)** Approaches ### Option 2: External Dedicated Server Run the server as a standalone process: **Pros**: Server independent of any AI session **Cons**: Loses democratic elegance, needs dedicated process **Use when**: Production environment, high reliability needed ### Option 3: Add Persistence (Future) Add SQLite to persist messages: ```python # Instead of in-memory queues messages_db = sqlite3.connect('messages.db') ``` **Pros**: Messages survive server restart **Cons**: Adds complexity, performance impact **Use when**: Message persistence critical ### Option 4: Multi-Server Federation (Future) Multiple servers that sync: ``` Server A (port 9876) ←→ Server B (port 9877) ``` **Pros**: True redundancy, no single point of failure **Cons**: Complex synchronization, consistency challenges **Use when**: Enterprise requirements ## 🚀 Best Practices ### For Development 1. **Accept message loss** - Due to being in a dev environment 2. **Start Claude first** - Most stable as server 3. **Document who's server** - Avoid confusion ### For (Future)Production 1. **Run dedicated server** - Using standalone process 2. **Monitor server health** - Alert on crashes 3. **Backup important messages** - Don't rely on queue 4. **Plan restart procedures** - Who restarts when ## 🔧 Monitoring Server Status ### Check if server is running: ```bash netstat -an | grep 9876 # or nc -zv localhost 9876 ``` ### See who's the server: - First AI to successfully bind port 9876 - Check logs for "Started message broker" ### Health check script: ```python import socket import json def check_ipc_health(): try: sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM) sock.settimeout(2) sock.connect(('localhost', 9876)) # Try listing instances request = {"action": "list"} sock.send(json.dumps(request).encode()) response = sock.recv(1024) return "IPC Server: UP" except: return "IPC Server: DOWN" ``` ## 📝 Planning Your Deployment ### Questions to Answer: 1. **Message Loss Tolerance** - Can you afford to lose queued messages? - How critical is message delivery? 2. **Uptime Requirements** - 99% (86 min downtime/week) → Manual failover OK - 99.9% (10 min/week) → Need dedicated server - 99.99% (1 min/week) → Need redundancy 3. **Recovery Time Objective** - Minutes → Manual restart acceptable - Seconds → Need automatic failover 4. **Message Volume** - Low (< 100/day) → In-memory OK - High (> 1000/day) → Consider persistence ### Deployment Recommendations: **Casual Use**: - Use as-is - Accept democratic model - Manual recovery when needed **Team Collaboration**: - Dedicated server process - Document restart procedures - Monitor server health **Production Service**: - Implement persistence - Automatic restart - Consider federation ## 🎭 The Philosophy The democratic server model reflects a philosophical choice: **Simplicity > Complexity** - One codebase for all roles - No special infrastructure - Easy to understand **Equality > Hierarchy** - No "special" server machine - Any AI can lead - Shared responsibility **Pragmatism > Perfection** - Works well for intended use - Clear upgrade path - Start simple, grow as needed In Summary - Enabling AI collaboration with minimal friction was the goal. The democratic model achieves this while leaving room for growth.