agents.md protocol for AI agent web discovery.
Key features:
- Two formats: Pure Markdown (simple) or YAML frontmatter (structured)
- MCP gateway integration for tool access
- Discovery via /.well-known/agents.md
- Security: origin trust, endpoint validation, auth guidance
- Backward compatible with robots.txt and llms.txt
Design based on 3-iteration process:
1. Gap analysis and planning
2. Multi-model consensus on format decisions
3. Code review for completeness and clarity
Philosophy: robots.txt says what agents CANNOT do,
agents.md says what they CAN do.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Major revision based on first principles thinking:
- Simplified format: plain Markdown, human readable
- Focus on capabilities (Can/Cannot) not API schemas
- MCP gateway pointer for structured tool access
- Clear positioning vs robots.txt and llms.txt
The agents.md file is the handshake.
The MCP gateway is where real work happens.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
