open source · MIT · free forever
Any peer.
Any NAT.
Warpgate is a 100% open-source Python 3 library for one-shot NAT traversal. Eight plugins, every major OS back to Windows XP, IPv4 and IPv6, multi-NIC, all in one library. No relays you have to run. No keys you have to manage. No paid tier, ever — the code is MIT and the public infrastructure is community-run.
$ pip install warpgate
python
3.5 → latest asyncio
os
Win XP–11, Linux, macOS, BSD
interfaces
multi-NIC native
plugin.cascade · 0x4F2A
try: 1/8
link via tcp-punch 0 packets
api
A library for writing network code, not fighting it.
Warpgate is a complete async network programming kit: the cascade for getting a socket, plus primitives for using it. Start a connection, accept inbound peers, multiplex multiple NICs, write your own strategy.
- → async-native from Python 3.5's first asyncio
- → plugins with a stable interface
- → advanced NAT detection ships built-in
- → bring-your-own signaling, TURN, naming
1# punch a tunnel to peer.bravo and echo back what we hear 2import asyncio 3from warpgate import Gate, TCP, peer 4 5async def main(): 6 async with Gate("peer.alpha") as gate: 7 link = await gate.connect( 8 peer.find("peer.bravo"), 9 transport=TCP, 10 ) 11 async with link: 12 await link.send(b"Hello world") 13 async for msg in link: 14 print(msg) 15 16asyncio.run(main())
1# accept inbound peers across every NIC and IP family 2import asyncio 3from warpgate import Gate 4 5async def handle(pipe, msg): 6 await pipe.send(msg) 7 8async def main(): 9 gate = Gate(name="echo.host") 10 await gate.listen(handle) 11 12asyncio.run(main())
1from warpgate import Plugin, Pipe, TCP, register 2 3@register(phase="direct") 4class DirectTCP(TraversalPlugin): 5 name = "direct_tcp" 6 transport = TCP 7 8 async def run(self, reply=None): 9 route = await self.bind() 10 dest = (self.dest["ip"], self.dest["port"]) 11 pipe = await Pipe(self.transport, dest, route).connect() 12 self.result.set_result(pipe)
plugin cascade
Eight ways through. Connect with ease.
Warpgate doesn't bet on a single technique. It runs a cascade of plugins — direct, reverse, hole-punch, probe, relay, port-map — in whatever order you configure. Write your own and drop it in.
01 / direct
Direct connect
tcp · udp
02 / reverse
Reverse connect
via signaling
03 / tcp-punch
TCP simultaneous open
novel algorithm
04 / udp-punch
UDP hole punching
classic + improved
05 / probe
UDP Random probe
birthday paradox
06 / upnp
UPnP / IPv6 pinhole
router-assisted
07 / turn
TURN relay
guaranteed fallback
08 / custom
Bring your own
plugin api
vs the rest
How it stacks up against the alternatives.
Pick anything you've used before. We'll tell you why Warpgate is different.
| project | direct sockets | embeddable | built-in signaling | NAT traversal | no virtual NIC | open & self-host |
|---|
public infrastructure
Public by design.
Most NAT-traversal libraries hand you a problem: stand up your own STUN, TURN, signaling, key-distribution. Warpgate ships with a public constellation — and a monitoring service that watches it for you. Run your own when you need to. Don't, when you don't.
signaling
Sidewire — messages over MQTT
Peers swap authenticated, end-to-end encrypted candidate messages over public MQTT brokers.
discovery
STUN for reflexive lookup
Pooled across community STUN servers. Warpgate fans probes out and reconciles results to characterize the NAT in front of you.
fallback
TURN for the unreachable
When all else fails — symmetric NAT on both sides, locked-down corporate egress — Warpgate falls back through public TURN.
naming
Namebump — free name registry
Skip the public-key gymnastics: claim a name with namebump, point peers at it. Or use raw addresses directly.
monitoring
Dogdorm — live reliability watcher
dogdorm probes public infrastructure servers. Constantly rating the most reliable and keeping an updated server list.
compatibility
Runs on what you've got. Even what you forgot.
Warpgate's pure-Python core targets the lowest common denominator on purpose. If you're maintaining a tool that has to ship to a Windows XP fleet, an embedded Linux box, a BSD jail, and an Android runtime — same library, same API.
operating systemmin versionsupport
WindowsXP SP3tier 1
Linuxkernel 2.6tier 1
macOS10.9 +tier 1
FreeBSD / OpenBSDrecenttier 1
Androidvia Termux / Chaquopytier 2
runtimeversionsnotes
CPython3.5 → 3.13primary
PyPy3.xtested
IPv4all NAT classesfirst-class
IPv6incl. pinhole / RAfirst-class
Multi-NICbind-per-interfacenative
the stack
Warpgate is one project in a family.
Each piece does one thing well, ships independently, and runs on the same public infrastructure. Use them together, or pull just the one you need.
Free. Open. Yours.
Warpgate is MIT licensed — the library, every sibling project. No paid tier. No vendor lock-in. No telemetry phoning home. Fork it, ship it, run your own copy of every server.