Ruflo builds a swarm. Synapse connects the agents you already have. Ruflo (renamed from Claude Flow) is an MIT toolkit of hundreds of MCP tools, hooks, a daemon and plugins that spawns and coordinates agents around Claude Code, with shared vector memory and Codex support. Synapse discovers the Claude Code, Codex, Gemini and other sessions already running on your Mac and, when you link two, feeds one's recent conversation into the other's next prompt. Ruflo does far more. Synapse is six tools, no repo rewrite and no network calls.
At a glance
| Synapse | Ruflo (Claude Flow) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Canvas and messaging layer for agents already on your machine | Meta-harness that spawns and orchestrates agent swarms |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Price | Free | Free CLI and plugins, enterprise via ruv.io |
| Account | None | No Ruflo account; uses your Claude login and API keys |
| Network | No network calls | Plugin registry over IPFS gateways, optional model providers |
| Surface | Six MCP tools, zero-dependency Node | 314 MCP tools, 27 hooks, daemon, plugins (as claimed) |
| Setup | node install.mjs once | npx ruflo init per project, writes .claude/, CLAUDE.md and more |
| Links sessions you started yourself | Yes, by process scan | Not found |
| Shares one session's conversation with another | Yes, up to 8,000 characters per link | No, shared memory through tools |
| Claude Code plus Codex | Live links and messages | Dual mode: shared memory, headless pipelines |
| Cross-machine | In development | Yes, Federation |
| Platforms | macOS first | macOS, Linux, Windows |
Ruflo facts are from its GitHub repo and user guide, checked on 16 October 2026. Many Ruflo numbers are self-reported by the project.
What Ruflo is
Ruflo is the new name of Claude Flow. The old ruvnet/claude-flow URL redirects to ruvnet/ruflo, and the npm packages claude-flow and ruflo both exist. It is made by Reuven Cohen (rUv) and describes itself as "an agent meta-harness for Claude Code and Codex".
It is very big and very popular, with more than 75,000 GitHub stars and several releases a day in October 2026. The README lists 314 MCP tools, 98 agent definitions, 33 Claude Code plugins, swarm topologies such as "queen-led" hive-mind, AgentDB vector memory, 27 hooks that route tasks, background workers, cost tracking, a terminal UI and Agent Federation for talking across machines.
What Synapse is
Synapse puts every live coding agent on your Mac on one canvas. Drag a line from agent A to agent B, and on every prompt B gets what A has said since last time, up to 8,000 characters per link. Linked agents can message each other through six MCP tools, a CLI or a skill.
Synapse does not start agents for you. It finds them wherever you started them, in a terminal, tmux, or another app.
How Ruflo and Synapse handle agents talking to each other
Ruflo:
- Who the agents are: agents that Ruflo or Claude Code spawns. The hive-mind command launches the
claudeCLI with a large prompt. Ruflo's model is "spawn and orchestrate". - How they share: coordination state lives in local stores (
.claude-flow/,.swarm/, AgentDB) and is read back with MCP tools such asmemory_search. Hooks inject ranked context into routing decisions. - Claude Code plus Codex:
npx ruflo init --dualwrites both CLAUDE.md and AGENTS.md and registers the same MCP server in both, so they read and write one shared memory namespace.@claude-flow/codex dual runruns fixed pipelines (architect, coder, tester, reviewer) as headless workers. v3.56.9 retired the Codex MCP backend after Codex CLI droppedcodex mcp-server. - Not found: a way to discover or link Claude Code, Codex or Gemini sessions you started independently.
Synapse:
- Who the agents are: whatever is already running. Claude sessions come from Claude Code's session registry, other CLIs from a process scan.
- How they share: a link injects the source agent's recent conversation on each prompt. Messages are pulled: Claude Code and Codex see them on the next prompt, other CLIs call
synapse_inbox. - Which agents: Claude Code and Codex fully, Gemini CLI with readable context, and OpenCode, Cursor Agent, Amp and Copilot CLI for messages.
- Setup: one install. Nothing in your repo changes.
Open source, accounts and trust
Both are MIT. Ruflo needs no Ruflo account but uses your Claude Code login, and its config reference lists ANTHROPIC_API_KEY as required for Claude models, with optional OpenAI and Google keys. Its plugin registry is served over IPFS gateways, so it is not network-free by default.
Ruflo's size has drawn scrutiny. An independent audit by roman-rr (April 2026, v3.5.51) said only about 10 of 300+ MCP tools did real work, that agent spawn created registry entries without processes, and that sessions carried 15,000 to 25,000 tokens of overhead. The maintainer replied that several findings were fixed in 3.6.x. A Developers Digest review named "audit surface" as the main risk. If you adopt Ruflo, read the current code for the tools you rely on.
Synapse is small on purpose: six MCP tools, a zero-dependency Node core, links and messages in ~/.synapse, and no network calls.
Where Ruflo is ahead
- Starting work from scratch. Templates, pipelines, background workers and swarm topologies. Synapse orchestrates nothing.
- Persistent memory. Vector memory across sessions, cost tracking and policy guards. Synapse shares recent conversation, not long-term memory.
- Cross-machine today. Federation over WSS with mTLS exists now. Synapse multiplayer is still in development.
- Platforms and mindshare. Windows and Linux support, a plugin marketplace, a large community and users who report lower spend in Claude Code.
Using Synapse with Ruflo
- Run Ruflo inside one Claude Code project for memory and routing.
- Run Synapse next to it and link that Claude Code session to a Codex or Gemini session you started elsewhere, so each sees the other's recent work.
- Use
synapse sendto ask the other agent a direct question instead of routing through shared memory.
Both are MCP servers. We have not tested them together, so watch for overlapping hooks.
Who should pick which
- Pick Ruflo if you want one toolkit to spawn, route and remember for a whole swarm, and you are willing to learn and audit a large system.
- Pick Synapse if you already run agents by hand and just want them to see each other's work and talk, with a small surface you can read in an afternoon.
- Run both if you want Ruflo's memory inside a project and live links between the sessions around it.
FAQ
What happened to Claude Flow?
Claude Flow was renamed Ruflo. The GitHub repo moved from ruvnet/claude-flow to ruvnet/ruflo, and the old URL redirects. The npm packages claude-flow and ruflo are both published.
Is Synapse a Claude Flow alternative?
For connecting agents you already have open, yes. Synapse links running Claude Code, Codex and Gemini sessions and shares their recent conversation automatically. For spawning swarms, routing and long-term vector memory, no. Ruflo does those and Synapse does not.
Ruflo vs Synapse: which is lighter?
Synapse. It has six MCP tools, a zero-dependency Node core, no changes to your repo and no network calls. Ruflo lists 314 MCP tools, 27 hooks, a daemon and plugins, and ruflo init writes several folders and files into your project.
Can Ruflo share memory between Claude Code and Codex?
Yes. ruflo init --dual registers the same MCP server in both and writes CLAUDE.md and AGENTS.md, so both read and write one memory namespace. That memory is accessed through tools. It does not inject one live session's conversation into another, which is what Synapse links do.
Is Ruflo open source?
Yes, Ruflo is MIT licensed. Synapse is also MIT licensed.
Does Synapse work across machines like Ruflo Federation?
Not yet. Synapse multiplayer, which links agents across machines through a small relay, is in development. Ruflo's Agent Federation works today.