* The Go Text Protocol:: The Go Text Protocol
* Running in GTP mode:: Running GNU Go in GTP mode
* GTP applications:: GTP applications
* The Metamachine:: The Metamachine
* Adding new GTP commands:: Adding new GTP commands
* GTP command reference:: Details on every GTP command
@node The Go Text Protocol
@section The Go Text Protocol
GNU Go 3.0 introduced a new interface, the Go Text Protocol, abbreviated
GTP. The intention was to make an interface that is better suited for
machine-machine communication than the ascii interface and simpler, more
powerful, and more flexible than the Go Modem Protocol.
There are two versions of the protocol. Version 1 was used with GNU Go
3.0 and 3.2. GNU Go 3.4 and later versions use protocol version 2. The
specification of GTP version 2 is available at
@url{http://www.lysator.liu.se/~gunnar/gtp/}. GNU Go 3.4 is the
reference implementation for GTP version 2, but all but the most common
commands are to be regarded as private extensions of the protocol.
The GTP has a variety of applications. For GNU Go the first use was in
regression testing (@pxref{Regression}), followed by communication with
the NNGS go server and for automated test games against itself and other
programs. Now there are also many graphical user interfaces available
supporting GTP, as well as bridges to other Go servers than NNGS.
@node Running in GTP mode
@section Running GNU Go in GTP mode
To start GNU Go in GTP mode, simply invoke it with the option
@option{--mode gtp}. You will not get a prompt or any other output to
start with but GNU Go is silently waiting for GTP commands.
A sample GTP session may look as follows:
virihaure 462% ./gnugo --mode gtp
2 . . . . . . . 2 WHITE (O) has captured 0 stones
1 . . . . . . . 1 BLACK (X) has captured 0 stones
Commands are given on a single line, starting by an optional identity
number, followed by the command name and its arguments.
If the command is successful, the response starts by an equals sign
(@samp{=}), followed by the identity number of the command (if any) and
then the result. In this example all results were empty strings except
for command 4 where the answer was the white move at C3, and command 7
where the result was a diagram of the current board position. The
response ends by two consecutive newlines.
Failing commands are signified by a question mark (@samp{?}) instead of
an equals sign, as in the response to command 5.
The detailed specification of the protocol can be found at
@url{http://www.lysator.liu.se/~gunnar/gtp/}. The available commands in
GNU Go may always be listed using the command @command{list_commands}.
They are also documented in @xref{GTP command reference}.
@section GTP applications
GTP is an asymmetric protocol involving two parties which we call
controller and engine. The controller sends all commands and the engine
only responds to these commands. GNU Go implements the engine end of the
With the source code of GNU Go is also distributed a number of
applications implementing the controller end. Among the most interesting of
@item @file{regression/regress.awk}
Script to run regressions. The script sends GTP commands to set up and
evaluate positions to the engine and then analyzes the responses from
the engine. More information about GTP based regression testing can be
found in the regression chapter (@pxref{Regression}).
@item @file{regression/regress.pl}
Perl script to run regressions, giving output which together with the
CGI script @file{regression/regress.plx} generates HTML views of the
@item @file{regression/regress.pike}
Pike script to run regressions. More feature-rich and powerful than
@item @file{regression/view.pike}
Pike script to examine a single regression testcase through a graphical
board. This gives an easy way to inspect many of the GNU Go internals.
@item @file{interface/gtp_examples/twogtp}
Perl script to play two engines against each other. The script
essentially sets up both engines with desired boardsize, handicap, and
komi, then relays moves back and forth between the engines.
@item @file{interface/gtp_examples/twogtp-a}
An alternative Perl implementation of twogtp.
@item @file{interface/gtp_examples/twogtp.py}
Implementation of twogtp in Python. Has more features than the Perl
@item @file{interface/gtp_examples/twogtp.pike}
Implementation of twogtp in Pike. Has even more features than the Python
@item @file{interface/gtp_examples/2ptkgo.pl}
Variation of twogtp which includes a graphical board.
More GTP applications, including bridges to go servers and graphical
user interfaces, are listed at
@url{http://www.lysator.liu.se/~gunnar/gtp/}.
An interesting application of the GTP is the concept of
using GNU Go as an ``Oracle'' that can be consulted by another
process. This could be another computer program that asks GNU Go
to generate future board positions, then evaluate them.
David Doshay at the University of California at Santa Cruz has done
interesting experiments with a parallel engine, known as SlugGo, that is based
on GNU Go. These are described in
@url{http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/gnugo-devel/2004-08/msg00060.html}.
The ``Metamachine'' experiment is a more modest approach using the GTP to
communicate with a GNU Go process that is used as an oracle. The following
@item The GNU Go ``oracle'' is asked to generate its top moves using
the GTP @code{top_moves} commands.
@item Both moves are tried and @code{estimate_score} is called
from the resulting board position.
@item The higher scoring position is selected as the engine's move.
This scheme does not produce a stronger engine, but it is
suggestive, and the SlugGo experiment seems to show that a
more elaborate scheme along the same lines could produce
Two implementations are distributed with GNU Go. Both make use of
@command{fork} and @command{pipe} system calls, so they require a Unix-like
environment. The Metamachine has been tested under GNU/Linux.
@strong{Important:} If the Metamachine terminates normally, the GNU Go
process will be killed. However there is a danger that
something will go wrong. When you are finished running the
Metamachine, it is a good idea to run @command{ps -A|grep gnugo}
or @command{ps -aux|grep gnugo} to make sure there are no
unterminated processes. (If there are, just kill them.)
@subsection The Standalone Metamachine
In @file{interface/gtp_examples/metamachine.c} is a standalone
implementation of the Metamachine. Compile it with
@command{cc -o metamachine metamachine.c} and run it. It forks
a @code{gnugo} process with which it communicates through the
GTP, to use as an oracle.
The following scheme is followed:
GTP client ----> Metamachine -----> GNU Go
Most commands issued by the client are passed along
verbatim to GNU Go by the Metamachine. The exception
is gg_genmove, which is intercepted then processed differently,
as described above. The client is unaware of this, and only
knows that it issued a gg_genmove command and received a reply.
Thus to the the Metamachine appears as an ordinary GTP engine.
Usage: no arguments gives normal GTP behavior.
@command{metamachine --debug} sends diagnostics to stderr.
@subsection GNU Go as a Metamachine
Alternatively, you may compile GNU Go with the configure option
@option{--enable-metamachine}. This causes the file
@code{oracle.c} to be compiled, which contains the Metamachine
code. This has no effect on the engine unless you run GNU
Go with the runtime option @option{--metamachine}. Thus
you must use both the configure and the runtime option
This method is better than the standalone program since
you have access to GNU Go's facilities. For example, you
can run the Metamachine with CGoban or in Ascii mode this
You can get traces by adding the command line
@option{-d0x1000000}. In debugging the Metamachine, a danger is
that any small oversight in designing the program can cause the
forked process and the controller to hang, each one waiting for
a response from the other. If this seems to happen it is useful
to know that you can attach @code{gdb} to a running process and
find out what it is doing.
@node Adding new GTP commands
@section Adding new GTP commands
The implementation of GTP in GNU Go is distributed over three files,
@file{interface/gtp.h}, @file{interface/gtp.c}, and
@file{interface/play_gtp.c}. The first two implement a small library of
helper functions which can be used also by other programs. In the
interest of promoting the GTP they are licensed with minimal
restrictions (@pxref{GTP License}). The actual GTP commands are
implemented in @file{play_gtp.c}, which has knowledge about the engine
To see how a simple but fairly typical command is implemented we look at
@code{gtp_countlib()} (a GNU Go private extension command):
if (!gtp_decode_coord(s, &i, &j))
return gtp_failure("invalid coordinate");
if (BOARD(i, j) == EMPTY)
return gtp_failure("vertex must not be empty");
return gtp_success("%d", countlib(POS(i, j)));
The arguments to the command are passed in the string @code{s}. In this
case we expect a vertex as argument and thus try to read it with
@code{gtp_decode_coord()} from @file{gtp.c}.
A correctly formatted response should start with either @samp{=} or
@samp{?}, followed by the identity number (if one was sent), the actual
result, and finally two consecutive newlines. It is important to get
this formatting correct since the controller in the other end relies on
it. Naturally the result itself cannot contain two consecutive newlines
but it may be split over several lines by single newlines.
The easiest way to generate a correctly formatted response is with one
of the functions @code{gtp_failure()} and @code{gtp_success()}, assuming
that their formatted output does not end with a newline.
Sometimes the output is too complex for use with gtp_success, e.g. if
we want to print vertices, which gtp_success() does not
support. Then we have to fall back to the construction in e.g.
gtp_start_response(GTP_SUCCESS);
return gtp_finish_response();
Here @code{gtp_start_response()} writes the equal sign and the identity
number while @code{gtp_finish_response()} adds the final two newlines.
The next example is from @code{gtp_list_commands()}:
gtp_list_commands(char *s)
gtp_start_response(GTP_SUCCESS);
for (k = 0; commands[k].name != NULL; k++)
gtp_printf("%s\n", commands[k].name);
As we have said, the response should be finished with two newlines.
Here we have to finish up the response ourselves since we already have
one newline in place from the last command printed in the loop.
In order to add a new GTP command to GNU Go, the following pieces of
code need to be inserted in @file{play_gtp.c}:
@item A function declaration using the @code{DECLARE} macro in the list
@item An entry in the @code{commands[]} array starting at line 200.
@item An implementation of the function handling the command.
Useful helper functions in @file{gtp.c}/@file{gtp.h} are:
@item @code{gtp_printf()} for basic formatted printing.
@item @code{gtp_mprintf()} for printing with special format codes for
@item @code{gtp_success()} and @code{gtp_failure()} for simple responses.
@item @code{gtp_start_response()} and @code{gtp_end_response()} for more
@item @code{gtp_print_vertex()} and @code{gtp_print_vertices()} for
printing one or multiple vertices.
@item @code{gtp_decode_color()} to read in a color from the command arguments.
@item @code{gtp_decode_coord()} to read in a vertex from the command arguments.
@item @code{gtp_decode_move()} to read in a move, i.e. color plus
vertex, from the command arguments.
@node GTP command reference
@section GTP command reference
@cindex GTP command reference
This section lists the GTP commands implemented in GNU Go along with
some information about each command. Each entry in the list has the
@item Function: What this command does.
@item Arguments: What other information, if any, this command requires.
Typical values include @dfn{none} or @dfn{vertex} or @dfn{integer} (there
@item Fails: Circumstances which cause this command to fail.
@item Returns: What is displayed after the @dfn{=} and before the two
newlines. Typical values include @dfn{nothing} or @dfn{a move coordinate}
or some status string (there are others).
@item Status: How this command relates to the standard GTP version 2
commands. If nothing else is specified it is a GNU Go private extension.
Without further ado, here is the big list (in no particular order).
Note: if new commands are added by editing @file{interface/play_gtp.c} this
list could become incomplete. You may rebuild this list in
@file{doc/gtp-commands.texi} with the command @command{make gtp-commands}
in the @file{doc/} directory. This may require GNU sed.
@include gtp-commands.texi
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