Artifacty

Artifacty is a local, agent-to-agent artifact exchange for LLM workflows. Claude, Codex, Gemini, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and other MCP-capable tools can publish an artifact once, then other agents can list, read, update, and continue from it without copying content through chat.

Artifacty overview showing multiple AI agents sharing artifacts through a local exchange

Why MCP

Claude Code artifacts are useful because they turn session output into shareable, versioned pages. Artifacty keeps that local and cross-agent: the browser server renders artifacts for people, while the MCP stdio server gives agents a common tool interface.

Installation

Artifacty requires Node.js 22.5 or newer.

Install the CLI globally from npm:

npm install -g artifacty
artifacty --help

Run it without a global install:

npx artifacty@latest serve --foreground

Start the local dashboard in the background:

artifacty serve

Open the url printed in the JSON response. Artifacty prefers http://127.0.0.1:8787; if that default port is busy and no explicit port was configured, it starts on the next available local port and records the actual URL for CLI and MCP responses.

Manage the background server:

artifacty status
artifacty stop

artifacty start and artifacty serve --detach use the same lifecycle path as artifacty serve. Logs are written under ~/.artifacty/logs/. These lifecycle commands use Node's detached process support and work on macOS, Linux, and Windows. artifacty stop uses process-group signals on macOS/Linux and Windows taskkill, falling back to /F when Windows requires forceful termination.

For foreground debugging, keep the process attached:

artifacty serve --foreground
npm start

Generate an API token at startup when you want to protect HTTP API and browser write routes:

artifacty serve --generate-token
artifacty serve --host 0.0.0.0 --share-mode lan --generate-token
artifacty serve --foreground --generate-token

Background serve returns the generated token and ready-to-open /new?token=... and /import?token=... URLs in JSON. Foreground serve prints the same values to stderr. For scripts or long-running services that need a stable token, generate one first:

artifacty token
artifacty start --api-token "$(artifacty token --raw)"

Install MCP configuration for local agents:

artifacty install claude
artifacty install codex --dry-run
artifacty install gemini
artifacty install copilot
artifacty install cursor
artifacty install all
artifacty check

Use artifacty install codex --timeout 30000 or artifacty install gemini --timeout 30000 to tune supported MCP client timeouts.

See docs/integrations.md for Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot in VS Code, and Cursor setup.

Quick Start

Create an artifact in the browser:

http://127.0.0.1:8787/new

For local development from a checkout:

npm install
npm test
npm start

Run the production-readiness check:

npm run release:check

Publish from the CLI:

artifacty publish --title "handoff note" --format markdown --source codex --content "# Next step\nReview the API plan."

Import an artifact produced by another agent and convert it to Artifacty format:

artifacty import --agent claude --file ./deploy-failures.html --tag review
artifacty import --agent gemini --content '{"title":"Plan","returnDisplay":"# Plan\n- Ship it"}'
artifacty import --agent codex --content '{"agent":"codex","title":"Implementation Handoff","goal":"Continue Phase 3","changedFiles":[{"path":"src/lib/render.js","status":"modified"}],"nextSteps":["Add CodeMirror read-only viewer"]}'
artifacty import --agent copilot --content '{"agent":"github-copilot","title":"PR Review","findings":[{"severity":"medium","file":"src/app.js","line":42,"title":"Handle missing state"}]}'
artifacty import --agent cursor --content '{"sourceAgent":"cursor","title":"Cursor Handoff","summary":"Editor pass complete.","nextSteps":["Run visual QA."]}'

Codex, GitHub Copilot, and Cursor structured payloads can become handoff, bundle, diff-walkthrough, code-review, or test-report artifacts when the payload explicitly identifies the agent through agent or sourceAgent. Plain Markdown from these agents stays a normal document unless you pass an explicit artifactType.

Agent Handoff Example

One agent can publish a continuation artifact, then another agent can discover it, read the context, and append the next version.

Codex publishes the handoff:

artifacty import --agent codex --tag handoff --content '{
  "agent": "codex",
  "title": "Release Handoff",
  "goal": "Prepare Artifacty for an npm release",
  "changedFiles": [
    { "path": "src/lib/converters.js", "status": "modified", "summary": "Normalize agent outputs" }
  ],
  "commands": [
    { "command": "npm run release:check", "status": "passed" }
  ],
  "nextSteps": [
    "Review README",
    "Publish package"
  ]
}'

Claude or Gemini finds the handoff and continues from the same artifact:

artifacty list --tag handoff
artifacty show release-handoff-abc12345 --raw
artifacty update release-handoff-abc12345 \
  --format markdown \
  --source claude \
  --tag handoff \
  --content "# Release Handoff\n\nReviewed README and prepared publish notes."

List artifacts:

artifacty list
artifacty list --query review --limit 20 --offset 20

Run the MCP server:

artifacty-mcp

MCP clients can create artifacts with artifacty_create. artifacty_publish remains as a backwards-compatible alias. MCP clients that support resources or prompts can also read artifacty://recent, artifacty://artifacts/{id}, artifacty://artifacts/{id}/raw{?version}, and artifacty://schema/v1, or use prompt templates such as artifacty_handoff, artifacty_review, and artifacty_release_notes.

Operational commands:

artifacty audit --limit 20
artifacty index rebuild
artifacty integrity
artifacty backup
artifacty export --file ./artifacty-backup.json
artifacty import-store --file ./artifacty-backup.json
artifacty start
artifacty status
artifacty stop
artifacty service install --dry-run
artifacty service unit --dry-run
artifacty service task --dry-run

When working from a source checkout without global installation, replace artifacty with node src/cli.js and artifacty-mcp with node src/mcp-server.js.

Storage

By default Artifacty stores files under ~/.artifacty.

ARTIFACTY_HOME=/path/to/shared/store artifacty serve

Artifact metadata is stored in artifacty.sqlite; artifact content is stored as immutable version files under artifacts/. The current browser server URL is written to server.json so MCP tools can return the correct links when the default port falls back. Existing index.json stores are migrated automatically on first access.

Search uses a SQLite FTS5 index when the local Node SQLite build supports it. The index covers the latest version body plus title, tags, source agent, artifact type, format, and metadata summary. If FTS5 is unavailable, Artifacty keeps working with metadata search. Rebuild or check the store when needed:

artifacty index rebuild
artifacty integrity

API Example

Start a protected server with a reusable shell token:

export ARTIFACTY_API_TOKEN="$(artifacty token --raw)"
artifacty serve --api-token "$ARTIFACTY_API_TOKEN"

curl -s http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/artifacts \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -H "x-artifacty-token: $ARTIFACTY_API_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "title": "PR review dashboard",
    "content": "<h1>Review</h1>",
    "format": "html",
    "sourceAgent": "claude",
    "tags": ["review"]
  }'

Convert-and-save an external agent artifact:

curl -s http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/import \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -H "x-artifacty-token: $ARTIFACTY_API_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "agent": "claude",
    "fileName": "deploy-failures.html",
    "content": "<html><head><title>Deploy failures</title></head><body>...</body></html>",
    "tags": ["review"]
  }'

Browser routes:

• /: list artifacts with search, tag, and source filters.
• /new: create an Artifacty-native artifact with the CodeMirror editor.
• /import: paste an external agent artifact and convert it with automatic editor mode detection.
• /artifacts/:id/edit: save a new version with Markdown, HTML, JSON, text, code, SVG, Mermaid, React, SARIF, CSV, image, or video syntax support.
• /artifacts/:id/diff: compare versions.
• /api/audit: list audit events.

List APIs support pagination with limit and offset. Responses keep the top-level artifacts array and include pagination and search metadata:

curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/artifacts?q=handoff&limit=20&offset=0" \
  -H "x-artifacty-token: $ARTIFACTY_API_TOKEN"

Interface Language

The browser UI defaults to English. Add ?lang=ko to any browser route to use Korean, for example http://127.0.0.1:8787/new?lang=ko. Forms and in-app links preserve the selected language. Documentation is maintained in English only.

Schema and storage:

• Metadata lives in SQLite with schemaVersion: 1, artifactType, and archivedAt.
• Archive hides artifacts from default lists without deleting versions.
• Bundle artifacts store multiple files or base64 assets as portable JSON.
• Supported formats are html, markdown, text, json, code, svg, mermaid, react, sarif, csv, image, and video.
• Diagram, component, source snippet, analysis report, table, and media assets use diagram, component, snippet, analysis-report, table, and asset artifact types.
• Copilot/Cursor examples cover PR reviews, screenshots, demo recordings, and visual evidence bundles.
• See docs/artifact-schema-v1.md.
• See docs/mcp-public-api.md for MCP tools, resources, prompts, and compatibility notes.
• See docs/sarif-csv-artifact-plan.md for the SARIF/CSV output artifact roadmap.

Security Model

• The HTTP server binds to 127.0.0.1 by default.
• If ARTIFACTY_API_TOKEN is set, HTTP API routes require Authorization: Bearer <token> or x-artifacty-token; scripts should prefer headers over ?token=... URLs.
• API token checks use timing-safe digest comparison.
• Binding outside localhost requires both ARTIFACTY_SHARE_MODE=lan or team and ARTIFACTY_API_TOKEN.
• Non-local sharing is intended for trusted LAN or VPN sessions. Prefer a specific interface IP over 0.0.0.0, keep React rendering disabled, and see docs/network-sharing.md.
• Non-local binding prints a startup warning because Artifacty does not terminate TLS.
• Artifact content is scanned for common API keys and private keys before storage. Use --allow-secrets or ARTIFACTY_ALLOW_SECRETS=true only for intentional exceptions.
• Creates, updates, reads, imports, archives, and restores write audit events to SQLite.
• CodeMirror editor/viewer and renderer assets are served from local npm dependencies through a package allowlist, not from a public CDN. JavaScript asset routes answer Origin: null requests with Access-Control-Allow-Origin: null so sandboxed renderer iframes can import local ESM without allow-same-origin.
• Mutating HTTP routes reject non-local browser origins.
• HTML artifacts render in a sandboxed iframe.
• SVG artifacts render in a scriptless sandboxed iframe and are sanitized for <script>, on* attributes, and javascript: links in the viewer. The raw source remains unchanged.
• Mermaid artifacts render with the vendored local Mermaid package in a sandboxed iframe without allow-same-origin.
• React artifacts are source-only by default. Set ARTIFACTY_ENABLE_REACT_RENDERER=true to execute them in a sandboxed frame with a frame-scoped CSP that permits JSX transformation.
• SARIF artifacts render a bounded findings summary and keep the full formatted JSON behind a raw-source details panel.
• CSV artifacts render as an escaped, bounded table; /raw preserves the original text.
• Image and video artifacts store base64 media inline, render safe previews, and decode bytes through /raw.
• Artifact content should still be treated as untrusted; use the raw view when handing content back to an agent.
• npm releases are published with GitHub Actions OIDC Trusted Publishing after lint, test, and smoke checks pass.

See SECURITY.md, docs/threat-model.md, and docs/release-checklist.md before publishing or running a shared instance.