Intermediate · Systems

Agent Identity

Visual diagram · (in preparation) · Math · (in preparation) · Worked example · 3 difficulty levels.

TL;DR. The verifiable answer to 'which agent is this?' — a stable, attestable identifier distinct from the human or service behind it.

Technical Definition

The verifiable answer to 'which agent is this?' — a stable, attestable identifier distinct from the human or service behind it.

How it works

Agent identity gives an autonomous software actor a first-class principal of its own, rather than borrowing a human's account. A well-formed agent identity is unique, cryptographically provable, attributable to an operator, and enriched with attestable metadata such as model, version, and deployment. Separating agent identity from user identity makes logs meaningful ('agent-14 acting for alice'), enables per-agent rate limits and revocation, and prevents the audit ambiguity that arises when dozens of agents share one service account.

Related Concepts

• Agent Passport System (APS) — A scheme that issues verifiable, portable identity documents to AI agents so other systems can recognise and trust them across domains.
• Agent Identity Protocol (AIP) — A protocol for establishing and proving an AI agent's identity to other agents, services, and users.
• Agent Trust — The calibrated confidence a system or person places in an agent, grounded in verified identity, bounded authority, and observed behaviour.
• Agent Audit Trail — The chronological, tamper-resistant record of an agent's decisions, tool calls, and context sources.