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Agent Identity & Discovery (AID)

The DNS-based discovery protocol for the agentic web.

Agent Identity & Discovery (AID)

DNS for Agents. Identity for the Agentic Web.

Type a domain. Connect to its agent. Instantly.

AID as the public address book for the agentic web.

It's a simple, open standard that uses the internet's own directory—DNS—to answer one question: "Given a domain, where is its AI agent, and how do I know it's the real one?"

No more hunting through API docs. No more manual configuration. It's the zero-friction layer for a world of interconnected agents.

Start with Core Concepts for a quick overview, then follow the Quick Start to publish your first agent.

Try it Now — Live Resolver & Generator

Why It Matters

AID creates a seamless experience for everyone in the ecosystem.

You want to connect your Notion to a new AI assistant. You type notion.so. The connection happens automatically. Your experience is instant.

As an autonomous agent, you're tasked with analyzing a dataset stored in a Supabase project. You don't need to be pre-configured. You can programmatically discover the supabase.com agent endpoint, negotiate a connection, and complete your task.

How It Works: The 30-Second Explainer

The entire mechanism is a single DNS lookup. It's simple, decentralized, and built on infrastructure that has powered the internet for decades.

  1. Publish: A provider (e.g., supabase.com) adds one TXT record to their DNS at a standard location: _agent.supabase.com.
  2. Discover: A client, given supabase.com, makes a single DNS query for the TXT record at that address.
  3. Connect: The record contains the agent's uri. The client uses it to connect directly.
  4. Verify: If a public key (pka) is present, the client performs a quick cryptographic handshake to prove the server's identity, ensuring a secure connection. (Optional)

Try this flow now

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Learn more

Want the deep dive?

  • Specification – The exact format, algorithms, and security rules.
  • Core Concepts – How DNS discovery, protocols, and identity fit together.
  • Identity & PKA – How AID provides cryptographic proof of an agent's identity.
  • Rationale – The design philosophy behind AID.
  • Security Best Practices – DNSSEC, redirect handling, local execution, IDN safety, TTL & caching.
  • Enterprise Rollout – Change windows, delegation patterns, and DNS team vs app team ownership.
  • aid-doctor CLI – Validate, secure, and generate AID records.

SDKs and Tools

AID has official libraries and tools across multiple languages, with additional ports in progress.

  • TypeScript/Node & Browser: @agentcommunity/aid
  • TypeScript Core Library: @agentcommunity/aid-engine – Pure business logic for discovery, validation, and PKA
  • CLI Tool: @agentcommunity/aid-doctor – Validate, secure, and generate AID records (wraps aid-engine)
  • Python: aid-discovery (transfer to community planned)
  • Go: aid-go
  • Rust: aid-rs
  • .NET: aid-dotnet
  • Java: aid-java
  • Web Workbench: Interactive generator/resolver

See the full package overview in the Quick Start and the cross-language Discovery API.

Use Cases

  • Simple connections: Type a domain, connect automatically. No manual setup.
  • Stronger trust (optional): Add identity proof to ensure you’re talking to the right service. See Identity & PKA.
  • Local and dev workflows: Safely run local agents with explicit consent; discover dev agents on your network.
  • Multi-protocol ecosystems: Connect across MCP, A2A, OpenAPI, gRPC, GraphQL, or WebSocket.
  • Smooth migrations: Deprecate old endpoints gracefully with clear timelines.