Agent Network Protocol (ANP)

Description

Agent Network Protocol (ANP) is an open communication protocol for intelligent agents, positioned by its authors as 'the HTTP of the Agentic Web era'. It defines a three-layer architecture: an Identity and Secure Communication Layer based on W3C DID (with the did:wba method) for cross-platform identity and end-to-end encrypted channels; a Meta-Protocol Layer that lets agents negotiate the actual wire protocol in natural language and then run AI-generated code over it; and an Application Protocol Layer with the Agent Description Protocol (ADP) and an agent discovery protocol. The reference Python SDK lives in the AgentConnect repo.

Solution

Network-protocol layer rather than a single agent loop. Each participating agent embeds an ANP client. Step 1: identity / handshake — the client signs the first HTTP request with its DID key; the peer fetches the DID document and verifies the signature, returning a token for subsequent calls. Step 2: meta-protocol negotiation in natural language to agree the wire protocol (or reuse a cached one). Step 3: discovery via ADP description documents and the discovery protocol. Step 4: application-layer message exchange over the negotiated protocol, tagged with a 2-bit Protocol Type (meta / application / natural-language / verification).

Primary use cases

• cross-organisation agent-to-agent communication without a central broker
• decentralised agent identity (W3C DID / did:wba) and end-to-end encrypted channels
• agent capability description (ADP) and peer discovery
• interop between heterogeneous agent runtimes / vendors
• research on self-organising, self-negotiating agent networks