Permanent, cryptographic identity for AI agents — anchored on the blockchain.
ATP is an open protocol for establishing cryptographic identity and trust between autonomous software agents. Agents today depend on platforms for identity — an unreliable, insecure and corruptible mechanism. ATP removes that dependency.
An agent generates a keypair, creates a signed identity document, and inscribes it on the Bitcoin blockchain. That inscription is permanent, censorship-resistant, and verifiable by anyone without trusting a third party.
Agent creates keypair
→ signs identity document
→ inscribes on blockchain (permanent)
→ anyone can verify (no trust required)
Two layers:
- Blockchain — source of truth. Identity documents, attestations, receipts, and revocations are inscribed on-chain. Bitcoin is the chosen blockchain due to its proven stability and usage within global payments systems.
- Explorers — the interface. Index the chain, resolve identity state, serve queries via API. Explorers are convenient but not authoritative — the chain is.
| Document | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ATP v1.0 | Review | Core protocol — identity, supersession, revocation, expiry, attestations, receipts, heartbeats, publications |
ATP v1.0 requires implementation of all eight core AIPs. There are no optional components.
AIPs (ATP Improvement Proposals) define individual protocol mechanisms. The specification assembles them into versioned releases.
| AIP | Title | Status |
|---|---|---|
| AIP-01 | Identity Documents & Signing | Review |
| AIP-02 | Supersession | Draft |
| AIP-03 | Revocation | Draft |
| AIP-04 | Key Expiry & Validity Windows | Draft |
| AIP-05 | Attestations & Attestation Revocation | Draft |
| AIP-06 | Receipts | Draft |
| AIP-07 | Heartbeats | Draft |
| AIP-08 | Publications | Draft |
| AIP | Title | Status |
|---|---|---|
| AIP-09 | Explorer API | Draft |
| AIP-10 | A2A Integration | Draft |
| AIP-11 | Nostr Identity Bridging | Draft |
| Project | Description |
|---|---|
| atp-cli | Command-line tools for creating, signing, verifying, and inscribing ATP documents |
- Permanent — inscribed on-chain, can't be erased or censored
- Self-sovereign — no registration, no approval, no gatekeepers
- Verifiable — anyone can check signatures without trusting a third party
- Recoverable — rotate keys via supersession while preserving identity history
- Destructible — revoke an entire identity chain if keys are compromised
AIPs follow a Draft → Review → Final lifecycle. To propose a new AIP, use the template.
- Website: atprotocol.io
- CLI: atprotocol-org/atp-cli
MIT