writing-skills
writing-skills
Use when creating new skills, editing existing skills, or verifying skills work before deployment
implement-a2a-serverImplement a JSON-RPC 2.0 A2A server with full task lifecycle management (submitted/working/completed/failed/canceled/input-required), SSE streaming, and push notifications. Use when implementing an agent that participates in multi-agent A2A workflows, building a backend for an Agent Card, adding A2A protocol support to an existing agent or service, or deplo…
Independent GitHub snapshot · Automated classification · Original documentation governs
Build fully compliant A2A server. Handles JSON-RPC 2.0 requests, manages task lifecycle states, supports SSE streaming for real-time updates, serves Agent Card for discovery.
design-a2a-agent-cardtrue or false)1.1. Initialize project with HTTP server + JSON-RPC parsing:
TypeScript:
mkdir -p $PROJECT_NAME && cd $PROJECT_NAME
npm init -y
npm install express uuid
npm install -D typescript @types/node @types/express tsx
Python:
mkdir -p $PROJECT_NAME && cd $PROJECT_NAME
python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install fastapi uvicorn uuid6
1.2. Make JSON-RPC 2.0 request handler:
interface JsonRpcRequest {
jsonrpc: "2.0";
id: string | number;
method: string;
params?: Record<string, unknown>;
}
interface JsonRpcResponse {
jsonrpc: "2.0";
id: string | number;
result?: unknown;
error?: { code: number; message: string; data?: unknown };
}
function handleJsonRpc(request: JsonRpcRequest): JsonRpcResponse {
switch (request.method) {
case "tasks/send":
return handleTaskSend(request);
case "tasks/get":
return handleTaskGet(request);
case "tasks/cancel":
return handleTaskCancel(request);
case "tasks/sendSubscribe":
// Handled separately via SSE
throw new Error("Use SSE endpoint for sendSubscribe");
default:
return {
jsonrpc: "2.0",
id: request.id,
error: { code: -32601, message: `Method not found: ${request.method}` },
};
}
}
1.3. Mount JSON-RPC handler on POST endpoint (typically /):
app.post("/", (req, res) => {
const response = handleJsonRpc(req.body);
res.json(response);
});
1.4. Serve Agent Card at /.well-known/agent.json:
app.get("/.well-known/agent.json", (req, res) => {
res.json(agentCard);
});
Got: HTTP server accepts JSON-RPC 2.0 requests + serves Agent Card.
If fail: JSON-RPC parsing fails? Validate request body has jsonrpc, method, id fields. Return -32700 (Parse error) for malformed JSON + -32600 (Invalid Request) for missing required fields.
2.1. Define task model with all A2A lifecycle states:
type TaskState =
| "submitted"
| "working"
| "input-required"
| "completed"
| "failed"
| "canceled";
interface Task {
id: string;
sessionId: string;
status: {
state: TaskState;
message?: Message;
timestamp: string;
};
history?: TaskStatus[];
artifacts?: Artifact[];
metadata?: Record<string, unknown>;
}
interface Message {
role: "user" | "agent";
parts: Part[];
}
type Part =
| { type: "text"; text: string }
| { type: "file"; file: { name: string; mimeType: string; bytes?: string; uri?: string } }
| { type: "data"; data: Record<string, unknown> };
2.2. Implement state transition rules:
submitted -> working | failed | canceled
working -> completed | failed | canceled | input-required
input-required -> working | failed | canceled
completed -> (terminal)
failed -> (terminal)
canceled -> (terminal)
2.3. Create task store with CRUD operations:
class TaskStore {
private tasks: Map<string, Task> = new Map();
create(sessionId: string, message: Message): Task { ... }
get(taskId: string): Task | undefined { ... }
updateStatus(taskId: string, state: TaskState, message?: Message): Task { ... }
addArtifact(taskId: string, artifact: Artifact): void { ... }
cancel(taskId: string): Task { ... }
}
2.4. stateTransitionHistory enabled in Agent Card? Append each status change to task's history array with timestamps.
Got: Task store enforces valid state transitions + maintains history.
If fail: Invalid state transition attempted (completed to working)? Return JSON-RPC error code -32002 + descriptive message. Never silently ignore invalid transitions.
3.1. Implement tasks/send — primary method for submitting tasks:
function handleTaskSend(request: JsonRpcRequest): JsonRpcResponse {
const { id: taskId, sessionId, message } = request.params as TaskSendParams;
// Create or resume task
let task = taskStore.get(taskId);
if (!task) {
task = taskStore.create(sessionId, message);
} else if (task.status.state === "input-required") {
taskStore.updateStatus(task.id, "working");
}
// Route to skill handler based on message content
const skill = matchSkill(message);
if (!skill) {
taskStore.updateStatus(task.id, "failed", {
role: "agent",
parts: [{ type: "text", text: "No matching skill for this request." }],
});
return { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: request.id, result: taskStore.get(task.id) };
}
// Execute skill (async — task will transition to working, then completed/failed)
executeSkill(skill, task, message).catch((error) => {
taskStore.updateStatus(task.id, "failed", {
role: "agent",
parts: [{ type: "text", text: error.message }],
});
});
return { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: request.id, result: taskStore.get(task.id) };
}
3.2. Implement tasks/get — retrieve task status + artifacts:
function handleTaskGet(request: JsonRpcRequest): JsonRpcResponse {
const { id: taskId, historyLength } = request.params as TaskGetParams;
const task = taskStore.get(taskId);
if (!task) {
return {
jsonrpc: "2.0",
id: request.id,
error: { code: -32001, message: `Task not found: ${taskId}` },
};
}
// Optionally trim history to requested length
const result = historyLength !== undefined
? { ...task, history: task.history?.slice(-historyLength) }
: task;
return { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: request.id, result };
}
3.3. Implement tasks/cancel:
function handleTaskCancel(request: JsonRpcRequest): JsonRpcResponse {
const { id: taskId } = request.params as TaskCancelParams;
try {
const task = taskStore.cancel(taskId);
return { jsonrpc: "2.0", id: request.id, result: task };
} catch (error) {
return {
jsonrpc: "2.0",
id: request.id,
error: { code: -32002, message: (error as Error).message },
};
}
}
Got: Working tasks/send, tasks/get, tasks/cancel methods correctly manage task lifecycle.
If fail: Skill matching fails? Return task in failed state with descriptive message. Task store full → return -32003 (resource exhausted).
4.1. Make SSE endpoint for streaming task updates:
app.post("/subscribe", (req, res) => {
const request = req.body as JsonRpcRequest;
if (request.method !== "tasks/sendSubscribe") {
res.status(400).json({ error: "Only tasks/sendSubscribe supported" });
return;
}
// Set SSE headers
res.setHeader("Content-Type", "text/event-stream");
res.setHeader("Cache-Control", "no-cache");
res.setHeader("Connection", "keep-alive");
const { id: taskId, sessionId, message } = request.params as TaskSendParams;
let task = taskStore.get(taskId) ?? taskStore.create(sessionId, message);
// Send initial status
sendSSEEvent(res, "status", {
id: request.id,
result: { id: task.id, status: task.status },
});
// Subscribe to task updates
const unsubscribe = taskStore.onUpdate(task.id, (updatedTask) => {
if (updatedTask.status.state === "working") {
sendSSEEvent(res, "status", {
id: request.id,
result: { id: updatedTask.id, status: updatedTask.status },
});
}
if (updatedTask.artifacts?.length) {
sendSSEEvent(res, "artifact", {
id: request.id,
result: { id: updatedTask.id, artifact: updatedTask.artifacts.at(-1) },
});
}
// Close stream on terminal states
if (["completed", "failed", "canceled"].includes(updatedTask.status.state)) {
sendSSEEvent(res, "status", {
id: request.id,
result: { id: updatedTask.id, status: updatedTask.status, final: true },
});
unsubscribe();
res.end();
}
});
// Handle client disconnect
req.on("close", () => {
unsubscribe();
});
});
function sendSSEEvent(res: Response, event: string, data: unknown): void {
res.write(`event: ${event}\ndata: ${JSON.stringify(data)}\n\n`);
}
4.2. Add event emitter or pub/sub to task store:
class TaskStore {
private listeners: Map<string, Set<(task: Task) => void>> = new Map();
onUpdate(taskId: string, callback: (task: Task) => void): () => void {
if (!this.listeners.has(taskId)) {
this.listeners.set(taskId, new Set());
}
this.listeners.get(taskId)!.add(callback);
return () => this.listeners.get(taskId)?.delete(callback);
}
private notifyListeners(taskId: string): void {
const task = this.get(taskId);
if (task) {
this.listeners.get(taskId)?.forEach((cb) => cb(task));
}
}
}
4.3. Emit events from all task state transitions + artifact additions.
Got: SSE streaming sends real-time status + artifact events as task progresses.
If fail: SSE connection drops? Client should reconnect + use tasks/get to retrieve current state. Ensure task store doesn't depend on active SSE connections.
5.1. pushNotifications enabled in Agent Card? Implement webhook registration via tasks/pushNotification/set:
PushNotificationConfig with url (HTTPS required), optional token, events array (["status", "artifact"])-32004 otherwise5.2. Send webhook callbacks on task state changes:
taskId, eventType, status, timestamp to webhook URLAuthorization: Bearer <token> header if token provided5.3. Implement retry logic for failed webhooks (exponential backoff, max 3 retries).
5.4. Add tasks/pushNotification/get to retrieve current push config for task.
Got: Webhook registration + delivery with retry logic.
If fail: Push notification failures must never affect task execution. Log errors + continue. Webhook URL persistently unreachable → remove subscription after max retries.
6.1. Load + serve Agent Card at startup:
agent-card.json + validate capabilities match implementationstreaming: true but SSE not enabledpushNotifications: true but webhooks not enabled6.2. Add CORS headers for cross-origin Agent Card discovery:
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: * on /.well-known/agent.jsonGET + OPTIONS methods6.3. Add authentication middleware matching Agent Card scheme:
/.well-known/agent.json (Agent Card always public)Authorization header or API key-32000 for unauthorized requests6.4. Start server + verify end-to-end:
# Start server
npm run dev
# Fetch Agent Card
curl -s http://localhost:3000/.well-known/agent.json | python3 -m json.tool
# Send a task
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/ \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tasks/send","params":{"id":"task-1","sessionId":"session-1","message":{"role":"user","parts":[{"type":"text","text":"Analyze my dataset"}]}}}'
Got: Running A2A server serves Agent Card, accepts tasks, manages full lifecycle.
If fail: Agent Card capabilities don't match implementation? Startup validation from 6.1 catches mismatch. Fix implementation or update Agent Card to match.
/.well-known/agent.jsontasks/send creates tasks + transitions through lifecycletasks/get retrieves task status + artifactstasks/cancel moves tasks to canceled statejsonrpc: "2.0" + correct id-32700 (parse error), -32600 (invalid request), -32601 (method not found), custom codes for domain errors.req.on("close") to detect disconnects.submitted or working state immediate, then update via events.completed, failed, canceled, no further state transitions allowed. Guard against this in state machine.design-a2a-agent-card - design Agent Card this server implementstest-a2a-interop - validate server against A2A conformance testsbuild-custom-mcp-server - MCP server patterns that inform A2A implementationscaffold-mcp-server - scaffolding patterns applicable to A2A server setupconfigure-ingress-networking - production deployment with TLS + routing