Editing AgentFinger

{{Infobox protocol
| name            = AgentFinger
| developer       = [[secondtruthLabs]]
| status          = Draft
| first_published = 2025
| latest_version  = 0.3
| based_on        = [[Common Text-based Response Protocol|CTRP]]
| transport       = [[wp:Transmission Control Protocol|TCP]]
| default_port    = 7922 (TCP), 7923 (TLS)
| encoding        = [[wp:UTF-8|UTF-8]]
| license         = [[wp:Public domain|Public Domain]]
}}

'''AgentFinger''' is an application protocol for discovering and retrieving structured information about users, AI agents, organizations, and [[wp:Model_Context_Protocol|MCP]] servers. Built on [[Common Text-based Response Protocol|CTRP]], it is specifically optimized for consumption by [[wp:Large language model|Large Language Models]].

== Overview ==

AgentFinger extends the classic [[wp:Finger protocol|Finger protocol]] concept for the AI agent ecosystem. It provides a standardized way for agents to discover information about other agents, their capabilities, and their organizational context.

=== Design philosophy ===

* '''Agent-first design''' – Optimized for LLM consumption
* '''Markdown-native''' – Semantic readability without complex parsing
* '''Distributed architecture''' – No central registry required
* '''Reasonable security''' – Designed for trusted networks

== Technical specification ==

=== Entity types ===

AgentFinger supports four entity types:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Type !! Prefix !! Description
|-
| User || <code>user:</code> || Human users and their profiles
|-
| Organization || <code>org:</code> || Organizations and projects
|-
| Agent || <code>agent:</code> || AI agents and their capabilities
|-
| MCP Server || <code>mcp:</code> || [[wp:Model_Context_Protocol|MCP]] server capabilities
|}

=== Query format ===

Queries follow a URI-like structure:

{{Code example
| language = text
| caption  = Query format
| code     = <type>:<id>@<host>[/<path>][?<query>]
}}

Examples:

{{Code example
| language = text
| caption  = Example queries
| code     = user:alice@example.com
agent:assistant@ai.example.com
org:research@labs.example.com/projects
mcp:tools@mcp.example.com?format=json
}}

Type prefixes are mandatory to avoid ambiguity.

=== Response format ===

Responses use [[wp:Markdown|Markdown]] with [[wp:YAML|YAML]] frontmatter:

{{Code example
| language = markdown
| caption  = Example response
| code     = ---
type: agent
id: assistant
name: Research Assistant
capabilities:
  - text-generation
  - code-analysis
---

# Research Assistant

An AI agent specialized in academic research support.

## Capabilities

- Literature review
- Citation management
- Summary generation
}}

=== Path-based resources ===

Entities can expose hierarchical resources:

{{Code example
| language = text
| caption  = Path examples
| code     = org:stlabs@example.com/projects
org:stlabs@example.com/projects/agentfinger
agent:helper@example.com/tools
}}

=== Query parameters ===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Parameter !! Values !! Description
|-
| <code>format</code> || <code>md</code>, <code>json</code>, <code>yaml</code> || Response format
|-
| <code>section</code> || Section name || Return only specified section
|}

== Security considerations ==

AgentFinger is designed for trusted network environments. Implementations should consider:

* Access control lists for sensitive information
* Rate limiting to prevent abuse
* TLS encryption for sensitive data
* Authentication for write operations (if supported)

== Discovery ==

AgentFinger services can be discovered using [[Trivial Service Discovery Protocol|TSDP]]:

{{Code example
| language = text
| caption  = TSDP discovery
| code     = DISCOVER agentfinger * *
}}

== Implementations ==

=== Reference implementation ===

The reference server implementation is written in [[wp:Go (programming language)|Go]].

== Use cases ==

* Agent-to-agent communication and discovery
* Identity and context discovery for LLM personalization
* Organization and project documentation
* MCP server capability advertisement

== See also ==

* [[Common Text-based Response Protocol]]
* [[Trivial Service Discovery Protocol]]
* [[wp:Model_Context_Protocol]]
* [[wp:Finger protocol]]

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://github.com/secondtruth/agentfinger AgentFinger Repository]

[[Category:Communication Protocols]]
[[Category:Application Protocols]]
[[Category:Identity Protocols]]
[[Category:AI Agent Architecture]]
{{stLabs protocol}}