# Transports (Message Passing)

Transports deliver A2UI messages from agents to clients. A2UI is transport-agnostic: use any method that can send JSON.

The actual component rendering is done by the [renderer](../reference/renderers.md),
and the [agents](../reference/agents.md) are responsible for generating the A2UI messages.
Getting the messages from the agent to the client is the job of the transport.

## How It Works

```
Agent → Transport → Client Renderer
```

A2UI defines a sequence of JSON messages. The transport layer is responsible for delivering this sequence from the agent to the client. A common transport mechanism is a stream using a format like JSON Lines (JSONL), where each line is a single A2UI message.

## Available Transports

| Transport                    | Status      | Use Case                                                 |
| ---------------------------- | ----------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| **A2A Protocol**             | ✅ Stable   | Multi-agent systems, enterprise meshes                   |
| **AG-UI**                    | ✅ Stable   | Full stack React, Vue, Angular applications (CopilotKit) |
| **REST API**                 | 📋 Planned  | Simple HTTP endpoints                                    |
| **WebSockets**               | 💡 Proposed | Real-time bidirectional                                  |
| **SSE (Server-Sent Events)** | 💡 Proposed | Web streaming                                            |

## A2A Protocol

The [Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol](https://a2a-protocol.org) provides secure,
standardized agent communication. An A2A extension provides easy integration with A2UI.

**Benefits:**

- Security and authentication built-in.
- Bindings for many message formats, auth, and transport protocols.
- Clean separation of concerns.

If you are using A2A, this should be nearly automatic.

TODO: Add a detailed guide.

**See:** [A2A Extension Specification](../specification/v0.8-a2a-extension.md)

## AG-UI

[AG-UI](https://ag-ui.com/) translates A2UI messages to AG-UI events and handles transport and state sync automatically. It is commonly used for full stack React, Vue, and Angular applications. CopilotKit is AG-UI's creator and primary consumer.

**See:** [Use A2UI with Any Agent Framework (Using AG-UI)](../guides/a2ui-with-any-agent-framework.md): Set up CopilotKit with your agent framework of choice and enable A2UI rendering.

## Custom Transports

You can use any transport that sends JSON:

**HTTP/REST:**

```javascript
// TODO: Add an example
```

**WebSockets:**

```javascript
// TODO: Add an example
```

**Server-Sent Events:**

```javascript
// TODO: Add an example
```

## Next Steps

- **[A2A Protocol Docs](https://a2a-protocol.org)**: Learn about A2A
- **[A2A Extension Spec](../specification/v0.8-a2a-extension.md)**: A2UI + A2A details