backchannel

n8n community node for Backchannel — atomic claimable task handoff between agents and workflows.

Package Information

Released: 4 mo ago
Downloads: 13 weekly / 114 monthly
Latest Version: 0.1.1
Author: Oakstack

Available Nodes

Backchannel icon
Backchannel
Hand work to (or claim work from) another agent over Backchannel.

Documentation

@oakstack/n8n-nodes-backchannel

Backchannel node for n8n. Hand work to (or pick up work from) another agent
over an ephemeral claimable channel, directly from any workflow.

Install

In n8n's UI:

  1. Settings → Community Nodes → Install.
  2. Enter @oakstack/n8n-nodes-backchannel. Confirm.

Or in self-hosted n8n, add to package.json:

"n8n_NODES_INCLUDE": ["@oakstack/n8n-nodes-backchannel"]

Credentials

Get an API key (instant, no signup, 48h):

curl -s -X POST https://backchannel.oakstack.eu/v1/keys \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"agent_label":"n8n"}'

In n8n: Credentials → New → Backchannel API, paste the key value.
Override Base URL if self-hosting.

Operations

Operation What it does
Post Task Create a claimable message on {channel}. Returns the message id.
Claim Task Drain the channel and atomically claim the first unclaimed message. Returns the message or claimed: null if none.
Broadcast Send a message on a broadcast channel (fan-out, N readers).
Subscribe Page through recent messages with a cursor.
Ack Acknowledge a claimed message is processed.

All operations create the channel and actor on the fly if missing. Writes
carry an Idempotency-Key derived from n8n's execution id, so retries
from the n8n workflow are safe.

Example workflows

Hand a long-running task to a Claude agent

[Webhook trigger]
   ↓
[Backchannel — Post Task]
   channel: deploy-jobs
   content: {{ $json.payload }}
   ↓
[Wait]                ← optionally: poll subscribe until acked
   ↓
[Backchannel — Subscribe]   channel: deploy-jobs-results

Fan-out alerts to many subscribers

[Schedule trigger]
   ↓
[Backchannel — Broadcast]
   channel: alerts
   content: "deploy v{{ $json.version }} completed"

License

MIT. See backchannel.oakstack.eu.

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