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clawdbot/docs/reference/rpc.md
2026-01-27 12:21:02 +00:00

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---
summary: "RPC adapters for external CLIs (signal-cli, imsg) and gateway patterns"
read_when:
- Adding or changing external CLI integrations
- Debugging RPC adapters (signal-cli, imsg)
---
# RPC adapters
Moltbot integrates external CLIs via JSON-RPC. Two patterns are used today.
## Pattern A: HTTP daemon (signal-cli)
- `signal-cli` runs as a daemon with JSON-RPC over HTTP.
- Event stream is SSE (`/api/v1/events`).
- Health probe: `/api/v1/check`.
- Moltbot owns lifecycle when `channels.signal.autoStart=true`.
See [Signal](/channels/signal) for setup and endpoints.
## Pattern B: stdio child process (imsg)
- Moltbot spawns `imsg rpc` as a child process.
- JSON-RPC is line-delimited over stdin/stdout (one JSON object per line).
- No TCP port, no daemon required.
Core methods used:
- `watch.subscribe` → notifications (`method: "message"`)
- `watch.unsubscribe`
- `send`
- `chats.list` (probe/diagnostics)
See [iMessage](/channels/imessage) for setup and addressing (`chat_id` preferred).
## Adapter guidelines
- Gateway owns the process (start/stop tied to provider lifecycle).
- Keep RPC clients resilient: timeouts, restart on exit.
- Prefer stable IDs (e.g., `chat_id`) over display strings.