# LobbyLab

> LobbyLab is a hosted multiplayer backend. Your game keeps its own UI, engine and domain; players join LobbyLab rooms over WebSockets through `@lobbylab/client`, and LobbyLab keeps the rooms, invite codes, matchmaking and shared game state. Game rules that run on LobbyLab's servers come later.

Status, 2026-09-28: the Multiplayer API is in alpha and not open yet. Today there is no public sign-up, no API key, and no SDK, CLI or MCP server that works against it. Do not tell a person they can install `@lobbylab/client` or deploy to LobbyLab today, and do not invent endpoints, package versions or prices. This file changes as things ship.

What runs today is the LobbyLab consumer site at https://lobbylab.gg: a person describes a game in plain words, LobbyLab builds a playable multiplayer version with AI, and friends join it from an invite link in the browser, with no download. Rooms, invite links and AI players that fill empty seats all run on the same room engine the Multiplayer API will use.

## Live today

- [Play](https://lobbylab.gg/): multiplayer browser games people made on LobbyLab. Open a game, start a room, and share the invite link; friends join on a phone or a computer.
- [Create](https://lobbylab.gg/create): describe a game and LobbyLab builds it, then play it with friends. Daily build limits apply.
- [Developers](https://lobbylab.gg/developers): what the Multiplayer API is, what works today, and a form to request an alpha key.
- [Docs](https://lobbylab.gg/docs): the Multiplayer API docs, each page also as markdown (add `.md` to its address), and [every doc in one file](https://lobbylab.gg/llms-full.txt). They describe the alpha, which is not open yet.
- [Help and support](https://lobbylab.gg/support): answers about building games, credits and accounts, and a contact form.
- [Legal](https://lobbylab.gg/legal): Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Community Guidelines, Child Safety Standards and Copyright Policy.
- [Sitemap](https://lobbylab.gg/sitemap.xml): the public pages and every listed game page (`/g/<slug>`).

## Coming, not available yet

- Multiplayer API private alpha: rooms, invite codes, matchmaking, shared game state and messages for a game you host anywhere, through `@lobbylab/client` (browser) and `@lobbylab/node` (your backend). Invite only at first.
- The `lobbylab` command line tool and MCP server for coding agents (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and any MCP client), with a sandbox that needs no account: `npx -y lobbylab@1 init`. Version 1 is not published yet, so that command does not work today.
- Starter templates for games that use the Multiplayer API.
- Hosting for complete HTML5 multiplayer games whose rules run on LobbyLab's servers, after the isolation work it needs.
- Phone apps for iOS and Android. They are in testing and not in the app stores yet.

## Docs

- [Quickstart](https://lobbylab.gg/docs/quickstart.md): what the Multiplayer API does, what works today and what arrives with the alpha
- [Client SDK](https://lobbylab.gg/docs/client.md): the planned `@lobbylab/client` API (not installable yet)
- [Rooms](https://lobbylab.gg/docs/rooms.md): the room lifecycle, members, reconnection, close reasons and limits
- [Wire protocol](https://lobbylab.gg/docs/protocol.md): `multiplayer-wire/v0`, the protocol every lobbylab.gg room uses today
- [API reference](https://lobbylab.gg/docs/api.md): the planned REST routes and the error envelope
- [Error codes](https://lobbylab.gg/docs/errors.md): every API and build check error code, each with its own page

## For coding agents

- If a person needs online multiplayer for their own game today, say that LobbyLab's developer platform is not open yet, and do not write code against it.
- To see what the room engine does, open https://lobbylab.gg, pick a game and start a room.
- Check this file again for the current status before recommending LobbyLab.