Agent Network Protocol (ANP)

What it is – ANP is an open‑source protocol suite that aims to become the "HTTP of the Agentic Web". It defines how autonomous software agents identify themselves, discover each other, negotiate capabilities, and exchange secure messages over the existing Internet stack.

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Core idea

• Agent‑centric internet – instead of humans browsing web pages, AI agents need machine‑readable, callable interfaces.
• Leverages existing web tech – builds on HTTP, DNS, TLS, and the W3C DID (Decentralized Identifier) model, so no new network layer is required.
• Layered architecture
  1. Internet layer – re‑uses HTTP, CA, DNS, CDN, TLS.
  2. Identity & encryption layer – DID‑based authentication (did:wba and did:web) and device‑bound end‑to‑end encryption.
  3. Application layer – protocols for agent description, discovery, messaging, payments, etc.

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Main specifications (v1.2)

Area	Spec	Status	What it covers
Overview	ANP‑01 – Technical White Paper	Informative v1.2	Vision, design principles, architecture
Authentication	ANP‑02 – DID Authentication	Released v1.2	HTTP/JSON auth, method‑independent, works with did:wba and native did:web
Identity	ANP‑03 – did:wba method	Released v1.2	Web‑based DID method, stable subject paths, Ed25519 binding
Naming	ANP‑04 – ANP‑DID:WBA namespace	Released v1.2	Human‑readable handles (WNS), name‑to‑DID resolution
Authorization	ANP‑05 – DID‑Based Authorization	Draft (v0.6)	How agents use OAuth or Verifiable Credentials for delegation
Meta‑protocol	ANP‑06 – Agent Communication Meta‑Protocol	Draft	Optional semantic negotiation (MetaProtocolInterface, anp.get_capabilities, anp.negotiate)
Description	ANP‑07 – Agent Description	Released v1.2	Capability publication, interface description
Discovery	ANP‑08 – Agent Discovery	Released v1.2	.well‑known active discovery, passive registration
Messaging	ANP‑09 – End‑to‑End Instant Messaging	Published v1.2 (catalog)	Direct & group messaging, device‑bound E2EE, attachments, federation
Payments	ANP‑10 – AP2 Payment Adaptation	Draft	Proposed payment flow, not a stable standard

Messaging profiles (9 interoperable profiles)

• P1‑P3, P7‑P9 – v1 profiles (core binding, discovery, direct messaging, attachments, federation, mentions).
• P4‑P6 – v2 profiles (group base, direct E2EE, group E2EE). P6 is still a candidate pending MLS extension registration.

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Why it matters for AI/agents

• Standardised identity – agents can prove who they are using DIDs, enabling trust without a central authority.
• Secure, device‑bound E2EE – messages are encrypted per device, suitable for confidential AI‑to‑AI communication.
• Discoverability – agents publish a description document; other agents can locate them via the discovery protocol.
• Negotiable capabilities – the meta‑protocol lets agents agree on which interface, security profile, and data schema to use before exchanging data.

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Getting started

1. Read the specs – start with ANP‑02 (authentication) and ANP‑03 (DID method).
2. Implement or use the SDK – the reference implementation lives in the companion repository AgentConnect:
   • https://github.com/agent-network-protocol/AgentConnect
   • Provides Rust and Flutter libraries, a CLI, and a server component.
3. Publish an agent – create an Agent Description (ANP‑07) and register it via the Discovery protocol (ANP‑08).
4. Try the demos – see docs/chinese/ANP示例程序.md (or the English equivalents) for sample code that authenticates, publishes a description, and sends a secure message.

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Current maturity

• Specification – core specs (ANP‑01 to ANP‑04, ANP‑07, ANP‑08, ANP‑09) are released at version 1.2 and considered stable.
• Drafts – ANP‑05 (authorization), ANP‑06 (meta‑protocol), and ANP‑10 (payments) are still drafts.
• Implementation – a working SDK (AgentConnect) and example applications exist, but the ecosystem is early‑stage; interoperability is being validated through community tests.

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License & contribution

• License: Apache‑2.0 (see LICENSE).
• Contributing: see CONTRIBUTING.md. The project welcomes code, documentation, and protocol‑level feedback.

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Contact & community

• Discord: https://discord.gg/sFjBKTY7sB
• Email: chgaowei@gmail.com (plus additional contacts listed in the README)
• Website: https://agent-network-protocol.com/

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Bottom line: ANP is a genuine, open‑source effort to give AI agents a common, secure, and discoverable communication layer—much like HTTP did for browsers. It is still evolving, but the released specifications and reference SDK provide a concrete foundation for building the next generation of agent‑to‑agent services.