zulip-platform-plugins/docs/ARCHITECTURE.md

Zulip Multi-Platform Agent Communication — Architecture

Overview

A production-ready system enabling 6 AI agents across 3 platforms (Hermes Python, Agent Zero, PI/openclaw TypeScript) to communicate through Zulip via dedicated per-agent bot users.

Architecture Diagram

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   Zulip Server (CT 117)                     │
│  chat.sysloggh.net:443                                      │
│                                                             │
│  ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌───  │
│  │tanko-bot │ │mumuni-bot│ │koonimo   │ │koby-bot  │ │...  │
│  │          │ │          │ │-bot      │ │          │ │     │
│  └────┬─────┘ └────┬─────┘ └────┬─────┘ └────┬─────┘ └───  │
└───────┼────────────┼────────────┼────────────┼──────────────┘
        │            │            │            │
   ┌────▼────┐  ┌────▼────┐  ┌────▼────┐  ┌────▼────┐
   │ Hermes  │  │ Hermes  │  │ Hermes  │  │ Hermes  │
   │ Plugin  │  │ Plugin  │  │ Plugin  │  │ Plugin  │
   │ (Python)│  │ (Python)│  │ (Python)│  │ (Python)│
   │         │  │         │  │         │  │         │
   │ Tanko   │  │ Mumuni  │  │ Koonimo │  │ Koby    │
   │ CT 112  │  │ CT 114  │  │ CT 113  │  │ CT 111  │
   └─────────┘  └─────────┘  └─────────┘  └─────────┘

   ┌──────────────┐          ┌──────────────┐
   │ Agent Zero   │          │ PI/openclaw  │
   │ Plugin       │          │ Extension    │
   │ (Python)     │          │ (TypeScript) │
   │              │          │              │
   │ kagentz      │          │ abiba        │
   │ CT 105       │          │ CT 100       │
   └──────────────┘          └──────────────┘

Message Flow (Normal)

User creates topic "project-x" in #agent-hub
  └── User types: @tanko-bot analyze this data
       └── Zulip fires event to tanko-bot's event queue
            └── Hermes Zulip Plugin on CT 112
                 ├── Detects: tanko-bot in mentioned_users
                 ├── Strips @mention from message
                 ├── Constructs MessageEvent
                 └── Routes to Tanko agent via BasePlatformAdapter
                      └── Tanko agent processes, returns response
                           └── Plugin posts to #agent-hub > project-x

Message Flow (@all-bots)

User types: @all-bots status report
  └── Zulip fires event to ALL 6 bots (same narrow)
       └── Each plugin independently:
            ├── Detects: All Bots in mentioned_users
            ├── Forwards to its agent
            └── Posts response to same topic
  └── 6 independent responses appear in the topic

Platform Plugin Contracts

Hermes (Python) — BasePlatformAdapter

• Path: hermes-zulip-plugin/src/hermes_zulip/
• Implements: BasePlatformAdapter (Hermes Gateway)
• Config: config.yaml per-agent
• Entry point: plugin.yaml (Hermes manifest)

Agent Zero — A0 Plugin System

• Path: agent-zero-plugin/src/
• Implements: Agent Zero plugin API
• Config: config.yaml per-agent

PI/openclaw (TypeScript) — openclaw Extension API

• Path: openclaw-zulip-extension/src/
• Implements: openclaw Extension
• Config: config.yaml per-agent

Reliability

• Reconnection: Zulip SDK handles backoff/reconnect natively
• Retry: 3 attempts with 5s backoff on agent timeout
• Error Response: User-visible message on failure
• Monitoring: Health endpoint (/health) on each plugin
• Logging: Per-plugin log files

Config Template

# config.yaml — Per-agent Zulip plugin configuration
agent:
  name: "tanko"
  display_name: "Tanko"
  zulip_bot_name: "tanko-bot"
  owner_email: "jerome@sysloggh.net"
  private_topic: "tanko-private"

zulip:
  server_url: "https://chat.sysloggh.net"
  email: "tanko-bot@chat.sysloggh.net"
  api_key: "${ZULIP_API_KEY}"  # From env var
  all_bots_user_id: 1234

agent:
  max_retries: 3
  retry_delay_seconds: 5
  health_port: 8080

Prerequisites

1. Zulip server running on CT 117
2. Zulip bot users created for all 6 agents + All Bots
3. #agent-hub stream created with all bots subscribed
4. SSH key access to all 6 agent CTs
5. Gitea repo initialized