Individual Submission B. Stone Internet-Draft SwarmSync.AI Intended status: Informational 4 September 2026 Expires: 8 March 2027 ATEP: Agent Trust and Execution Passport draft-stone-atep-02 Abstract This document specifies the *Agent Trust & Execution Passport (ATEP)*, an open standard for representing an AI agent's verifiable track record of work across marketplaces and platforms. ATEP defines a portable, machine-readable credential format that encodes an agent's execution history, success rate, capability domains, trust tier, and earned badges. The passport is computed entirely from append-only execution logs and cannot be manually inflated. ATEP is the *trust layer* for agent-to-agent commerce. As agents move between marketplaces, ATEP provides a universal format for answering the question: _"Should I hire this agent?"_ Status of This Memo This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet- Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." This Internet-Draft will expire on 8 March 2027. Copyright Notice Copyright (c) 2026 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved. Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 1] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/ license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. Table of Contents 1. 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.1. 1.1 Problem Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.2. 1.2 Design Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.3. 1.3 Relationship to Other Specifications . . . . . . . . 4 1.4. 1.4 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2. 2. Passport Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2.1. 2.1 Full Passport (Private) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2.2. 2.2 Public Passport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3. 3. Trust Tiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3.1. 3.1 Tier Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3.2. 3.2 Promotion Thresholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3.3. 3.3 Promotion Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3.4. 3.4 Capability Gating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 4. 4. Badge System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 4.1. 4.1 Badge Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 4.2. 4.2 Standard Badge Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 4.3. 4.3 Badge Namespace Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 4.4. 4.4 Badge Computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 4.5. 4.5 Badge Expiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 5. 5. Passport Computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 5.1. 5.1 Data Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 5.2. 5.2 Computation Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 5.3. 5.3 Computation Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 5.4. 5.4 Immutability Guarantees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 6. 6. Portability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 6.1. 6.1 Cross-Platform Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 6.2. 6.2 Passport Endpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 6.3. 6.3 Passport Signing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 6.4. 6.4 Agent Co-Signing (RECOMMENDED) . . . . . . . . . . . 16 6.5. 6.5 Multi-Platform Aggregation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 7. 7. Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 7.1. 7.1 Public vs Private Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 7.2. 7.2 Data Retention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 7.3. 7.3 Right to Deletion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 8. 8. Integration with VCAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 8.1. 8.1 Trust-Gated Escrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 8.2. 8.2 Passport in VCAP Negotiation . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 8.3. 8.3 Passport Update After VCAP Settlement . . . . . . . . 20 9. 9. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 9.1. 9.1 Passport Forgery Prevention . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 2] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 9.2. 9.2 Replay Prevention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 9.3. 9.3 Session Inflation Prevention . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 9.4. 9.4 Cross-Platform Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 10. 10. Extensibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 10.1. 10.1 Custom Badge Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 10.2. 10.2 Custom Capability Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 10.3. 10.3 Custom Trust Tier Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 10.4. 10.4 Verifiable Credentials Wrapper . . . . . . . . . . 23 11. 11. Conformance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 11.1. 11.1 Conformance Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 11.2. 11.2 Implementation Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 12. 12. Reference Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 13. Appendix A: Trust Tier Promotion Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . 25 14. Appendix B: Capability Gating Reference . . . . . . . . . . . 26 15. Appendix C: JSON Schema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 16. Appendix D: Example Passport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 17. Appendix E: Changelog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 1. 1. Introduction 1.1. 1.1 Problem Statement As AI agents proliferate across marketplaces and platforms, there is no standard way to: 1. Represent an agent's track record of completed work 2. Compute trust scores from verifiable execution data 3. Gate access to sensitive operations based on proven reliability 4. Port an agent's reputation across platforms 5. Present a marketplace-safe public profile without exposing internal IDs Each marketplace builds its own proprietary reputation system. An agent with 1,000 successful sessions on Platform A starts from zero on Platform B. ATEP solves this by defining a portable, verifiable, fraud-resistant credential format. Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 3] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 1.2. 1.2 Design Goals +====================+========================================+ | Goal | Description | +====================+========================================+ | Verifiable | Passports are computed from append- | | | only execution logs, not self-reported | +--------------------+----------------------------------------+ | Portable | A single JSON document that any | | | platform can parse and display | +--------------------+----------------------------------------+ | Fraud-resistant | Stats cannot be inflated; they are | | | derived from immutable session records | +--------------------+----------------------------------------+ | Progressive | Trust builds incrementally through | | | demonstrated performance | +--------------------+----------------------------------------+ | Privacy-preserving | Public passports omit internal agent | | | IDs and sensitive data | +--------------------+----------------------------------------+ | Extensible | Custom badge types and capability | | | domains can be added | +--------------------+----------------------------------------+ Table 1 1.3. 1.3 Relationship to Other Specifications +==================+=============================================+ | Spec | Relationship | +==================+=============================================+ | VCAP | ATEP passports inform VCAP escrow decisions | | | (higher trust = lower escrow requirements) | +------------------+---------------------------------------------+ | AIVS | AIVS-verified sessions contribute to ATEP | | | session counts | +------------------+---------------------------------------------+ | Google A2A | ATEP can be served as an A2A agent | | | capability metadata extension | +------------------+---------------------------------------------+ | Agent Protocol | ATEP trust tiers can gate which Agent | | | Protocol tasks an agent may accept | +------------------+---------------------------------------------+ | DID / Verifiable | ATEP passports can be wrapped in W3C | | Credentials | Verifiable Credential format | +------------------+---------------------------------------------+ Table 2 Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 4] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 1.4. 1.4 Terminology +============+===============================================+ | Term | Definition | +============+===============================================+ | Agent | An autonomous AI system that performs work on | | | behalf of users or other agents | +------------+-----------------------------------------------+ | Session | A discrete unit of work performed by an agent | | | (e.g., a browser automation run, an API task) | +------------+-----------------------------------------------+ | Passport | The computed credential document representing | | | an agent's track record | +------------+-----------------------------------------------+ | Trust Tier | A categorical trust level derived from | | | session statistics | +------------+-----------------------------------------------+ | Badge | A specific achievement or certification | | | earned through performance | +------------+-----------------------------------------------+ | Issuer | The marketplace or platform that computes and | | | signs the passport | +------------+-----------------------------------------------+ | Capability | A category of work the agent has demonstrated | | Domain | proficiency in | +------------+-----------------------------------------------+ Table 3 2. 2. Passport Format 2.1. 2.1 Full Passport (Private) The full passport contains all fields. It is stored by the issuing platform and returned to authenticated callers (e.g., the agent's owner, platform admins). { "atep_version": "1.0", "passport_id": "string (UUID, globally unique)", "agent_id": "string (platform-specific agent identifier)", "issuer": { "platform": "string (e.g., 'swarmsync.ai')", "platform_url": "string (URL of the issuing marketplace)", "issued_at": "string (ISO 8601)", "signature": "string (Ed25519 signature of canonical passport body, Base64-encoded)" }, "statistics": { Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 5] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 "total_sessions": "number (integer, all sessions ever started)", "successful_sessions": "number (integer, sessions with status COMPLETED)", "failed_sessions": "number (integer, sessions with status FAILED)", "success_rate": "number (float, 0.0–1.0, successful/total)", "total_cost_cents": "number (integer, cumulative cost of all sessions)", "average_cost_cents": "number (integer, mean cost per completed session)", "first_session_at": "string (OPTIONAL, ISO 8601)", "last_session_at": "string (OPTIONAL, ISO 8601)" }, "trust_tier": { "current": "UNVERIFIED | BASIC | VERIFIED | TRUSTED", "promoted_at": "string (OPTIONAL, ISO 8601, when current tier was earned)", "next_tier": "string (OPTIONAL, next tier name)", "sessions_until_next": "number (OPTIONAL, sessions needed for next promotion)" }, "capabilities": { "domains_worked": ["string (hostnames the agent has operated on)"], "task_types": ["string (action/event types the agent has performed)"], "specializations": ["string (OPTIONAL, high-level categories: 'web_scraping', 'form_filling', 'testing')"] }, "badges": [ { "badge_type": "string (machine-readable badge identifier)", "label": "string (human-readable display name)", "description": "string (OPTIONAL)", "criteria": "string (OPTIONAL, what was required to earn this badge)", "earned_at": "string (ISO 8601)", "expires_at": "string (ISO 8601, null for permanent badges)", "session_count": "number (OPTIONAL, sessions at time of earning)", "success_rate": "number (OPTIONAL, rate at time of earning)" } ], "identity": { "has_cryptographic_identity": "boolean (true if Ed25519 key pair provisioned)", "public_key": "string (OPTIONAL, Ed25519 SPKI PEM format)", "key_provisioned_at": "string (OPTIONAL, ISO 8601)" }, "updated_at": "string (ISO 8601)" } 2.2. 2.2 Public Passport The public passport is a subset of the full passport, safe for marketplace display. It omits agent_id, public_key, and internal metadata. Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 6] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 { "atep_version": "1.0", "passport_id": "string", "issuer": { "platform": "string", "platform_url": "string", "issued_at": "string" }, "statistics": { "total_sessions": "number", "successful_sessions": "number", "failed_sessions": "number", "success_rate": "number" }, "trust_tier": { "current": "UNVERIFIED | BASIC | VERIFIED | TRUSTED" }, "capabilities": { "domains_worked": ["string (top 50, sorted by frequency)"], "task_types": ["string"], "specializations": ["string"] }, "badges": [ { "badge_type": "string", "label": "string", "earned_at": "string", "expires_at": "string | null" } ], "updated_at": "string" } 3. 3. Trust Tiers 3.1. 3.1 Tier Definitions ATEP defines four trust tiers. Each tier unlocks progressively more sensitive capabilities. Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 7] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 +============+=======+====================================+ | Tier | Level | Description | +============+=======+====================================+ | UNVERIFIED | 0 | Default state for new agents. No | | | | proven track record. | +------------+-------+------------------------------------+ | BASIC | 1 | Agent has demonstrated basic | | | | operational capability. | +------------+-------+------------------------------------+ | VERIFIED | 2 | Agent has a substantial track | | | | record and cryptographic identity. | +------------+-------+------------------------------------+ | TRUSTED | 3 | Agent has extensive history and | | | | has passed manual platform review. | +------------+-------+------------------------------------+ Table 4 3.2. 3.2 Promotion Thresholds These are *reference defaults*. Implementations MAY adjust thresholds, but MUST document their values. +============+==================+===========================+ | Promotion | Minimum Sessions | Additional Requirements | +============+==================+===========================+ | UNVERIFIED | 10 | None | | -> BASIC | | | +------------+------------------+---------------------------+ | BASIC -> | 50 | Cryptographic identity | | VERIFIED | | key provisioned (Ed25519) | +------------+------------------+---------------------------+ | VERIFIED | 200 | Manual platform review | | -> TRUSTED | | approved | +------------+------------------+---------------------------+ Table 5 3.3. 3.3 Promotion Rules 1. *Promotion is monotonic*: An agent's tier can only increase, never decrease automatically. Manual demotion by platform administrators is permitted but MUST be logged. 2. *Promotion is evaluated after each session completion*: When a session transitions to COMPLETED or FAILED, the issuing platform MUST recalculate the passport and evaluate promotion eligibility. Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 8] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 3. *Promotion is persistent*: Once promoted, the tier persists even if subsequent sessions fail (to prevent gaming via selective session deletion). 4. *Requirements are cumulative*: Each tier requires all lower-tier requirements plus its own. 3.4. 3.4 Capability Gating Trust tiers gate access to sensitive operations. The *reference permission set* for browser automation agents: +======================+============+=======+==========+=========+ | Action Category | UNVERIFIED | BASIC | VERIFIED | TRUSTED | +======================+============+=======+==========+=========+ | Read-only (NAVIGATE, | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | EXTRACT, SCREENSHOT) | | | | | +----------------------+------------+-------+----------+---------+ | Interaction (CLICK, | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | | TYPE, WAIT_FOR) | | | | | +----------------------+------------+-------+----------+---------+ | Authentication | No | No | Yes | Yes | | (LOGIN_FORM) | | | | | +----------------------+------------+-------+----------+---------+ | Financial | No | No | No | Yes | | (PAYMENT_FORM, | | | | | | PURCHASE) | | | | | +----------------------+------------+-------+----------+---------+ Table 6 Implementations SHOULD define their own capability-to-tier mapping appropriate to their domain. 4. 4. Badge System 4.1. 4.1 Badge Format Badges are specific achievements earned through performance. They provide granular reputation signals beyond the aggregate trust tier. Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 9] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 { "badge_type": "string (machine-readable, e.g., 'conduit_verified_10')", "label": "string (human-readable, e.g., 'Conduit Verified — 10 Sessions')", "description": "string (OPTIONAL, detailed explanation)", "criteria": "string (OPTIONAL, machine-parseable criteria)", "earned_at": "string (ISO 8601)", "expires_at": "string | null (ISO 8601, null = permanent)", "evidence": { "session_count": "number (OPTIONAL)", "success_rate": "number (OPTIONAL)", "domains": ["string (OPTIONAL)"], "custom": "object (OPTIONAL)" } } 4.2. 4.2 Standard Badge Types These are *reference badge types*. Implementations MAY define additional types. +=======================+===============+==============+===========+ | Badge Type | Label | Criteria |Expiry | +=======================+===============+==============+===========+ | session_milestone_10 | First 10 | 10+ total |Permanent | | | Sessions | sessions | | +-----------------------+---------------+--------------+-----------+ | session_milestone_50 | 50 Sessions | 50+ total |Permanent | | | | sessions | | +-----------------------+---------------+--------------+-----------+ | session_milestone_100 | Century Club | 100+ total |Permanent | | | | sessions | | +-----------------------+---------------+--------------+-----------+ | session_milestone_500 | 500 Sessions | 500+ total |Permanent | | | | sessions | | +-----------------------+---------------+--------------+-----------+ | high_success_90 | 90% Success | 90%+ success |90 days | | | Rate | rate, 20+ |(rolling) | | | | sessions | | +-----------------------+---------------+--------------+-----------+ | high_success_95 | 95% Success | 95%+ success |90 days | | | Rate | rate, 50+ |(rolling) | | | | sessions | | +-----------------------+---------------+--------------+-----------+ | high_success_99 | Near-Perfect | 99%+ success |90 days | | | | rate, 100+ |(rolling) | | | | sessions | | +-----------------------+---------------+--------------+-----------+ | domain_specialist | Domain | 50+ sessions |90 days | Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 10] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 | | Specialist | on a single |(rolling) | | | | domain | | +-----------------------+---------------+--------------+-----------+ | multi_domain | Multi-Domain | Operated on |Permanent | | | | 10+ distinct | | | | | domains | | +-----------------------+---------------+--------------+-----------+ | crypto_identity | Cryptographic | Ed25519 key |Permanent | | | Identity | pair | | | | | provisioned | | +-----------------------+---------------+--------------+-----------+ | conduit_verified | Conduit | Completed |90 days | | | Verified | Conduit |(rolling) | | | | browser | | | | | verification | | +-----------------------+---------------+--------------+-----------+ | trusted_review | Platform | Passed |1 year | | | Trusted | manual |(renewable)| | | | platform | | | | | review | | +-----------------------+---------------+--------------+-----------+ Table 7 4.3. 4.3 Badge Namespace Registry To prevent portability failures caused by two platforms defining badges with the same badge_type identifier but different criteria, ATEP defines a namespace registry. *Reserved namespace (no prefix):* Badge types without a namespace prefix (e.g., session_milestone_10, high_success_90) are defined by this specification. Implementations MUST NOT define new unprefixed badge types. *Platform namespaces:* Platform-specific badges MUST use a reverse- domain prefix: {reverse_domain}:{badge_name} Example: ai.swarmsync:conduit_veteran_50 *Badge Interoperability Rule:* When a receiving platform encounters a badge with a prefix it does not recognize, it MUST: 1. Display the badge with its label field 2. Mark it as "unverified by this platform" in the UI Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 11] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 3. NOT reject the passport — unknown badges are advisory, not fatal *Standard badge registry:* The canonical list of unprefixed badge types is maintained at: https://github.com/swarmsync-ai/atep-spec/blob/main/badge-registry.md Platforms wishing to propose new standard (unprefixed) badge types SHOULD open a pull request against this registry with: badge_type name, criteria definition, expiry policy, and at least one reference implementation. 4.4. 4.4 Badge Computation Badges MUST be computed from verifiable data: 1. *Session milestones*: Computed from total_sessions count 2. *Success rate badges*: Computed from success_rate with minimum session threshold 3. *Domain badges*: Computed from domains_worked array 4. *Identity badges*: Computed from presence of AgentIdentityKey record 5. *Review badges*: Computed from platform admin action (requires audit trail) 4.5. 4.5 Badge Expiry Rolling badges (success rate, domain specialist) MUST be re-evaluated periodically: * Recommended evaluation frequency: after each session completion * If the agent no longer meets the criteria when the badge expires, the badge is removed * Expired badges SHOULD be retained in a historical_badges array for audit 5. 5. Passport Computation 5.1. 5.1 Data Sources An ATEP passport MUST be computed exclusively from append-only execution logs. The required data sources are: Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 12] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 +=================+======================================+ | Source | Fields Derived | +=================+======================================+ | Session records | total_sessions, successful_sessions, | | (append-only) | failed_sessions, success_rate | +-----------------+--------------------------------------+ | Session cost | total_cost_cents, average_cost_cents | | records | | +-----------------+--------------------------------------+ | Navigation | domains_worked | | event records | | +-----------------+--------------------------------------+ | Event type | task_types | | records | | +-----------------+--------------------------------------+ | Identity key | has_cryptographic_identity, | | records | public_key | +-----------------+--------------------------------------+ | Badge records | badges array | +-----------------+--------------------------------------+ | Admin review | trusted_review badge, TRUSTED tier | | records | | +-----------------+--------------------------------------+ Table 8 5.2. 5.2 Computation Algorithm Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 13] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 FUNCTION computePassport(agentId): sessions = getAllSessions(agentId) totalSessions = count(sessions) successfulSessions = count(sessions WHERE status = 'COMPLETED') failedSessions = count(sessions WHERE status = 'FAILED') successRate = IF totalSessions > 0 THEN successfulSessions / totalSessions ELSE 0 completedSessions = filter(sessions WHERE status = 'COMPLETED') avgCostCents = mean(completedSessions.totalCostCents) ROUNDED TO integer totalCostCents = sum(completedSessions.totalCostCents) navigateEvents = getEvents(agentId, eventType = 'NAVIGATE') domainsWorked = unique(navigateEvents.map(e => extractHostname(e.url))) allEvents = getEvents(agentId) taskTypes = unique(allEvents.map(e => e.eventType)) identityKey = getIdentityKey(agentId) hasCryptoId = identityKey != null trustTier = evaluateTier(totalSessions, hasCryptoId, hasManualReview) badges = evaluateBadges(totalSessions, successRate, domainsWorked, hasCryptoId) RETURN Passport{ statistics: { totalSessions, successfulSessions, failedSessions, successRate, totalCostCents, avgCostCents }, trustTier: { current: trustTier }, capabilities: { domainsWorked, taskTypes }, badges: badges, identity: { hasCryptoId, publicKey: identityKey?.publicKey }, updatedAt: NOW() } 5.3. 5.3 Computation Timing The passport MUST be recomputed: * After every session transitions to COMPLETED or FAILED * When an identity key is provisioned or rotated * When a manual platform review is completed The recomputation SHOULD cascade to: * Badge evaluation * Trust tier promotion check Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 14] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 5.4. 5.4 Immutability Guarantees The passport's integrity depends on the immutability of its data sources: 1. *Session records*: Once created, status may only transition forward (IDLE -> RUNNING -> COMPLETED/FAILED). No deletions. 2. *Event records*: Append-only. No updates or deletions. Each event has a creation timestamp. 3. *Identity keys*: Rotation creates a new record; old records are marked with rotated_at but never deleted. 6. 6. Portability 6.1. 6.1 Cross-Platform Transfer An agent can request its passport from Platform A and present it to Platform B. Platform B can: 1. *Verify the signature*: Using the issuer's published public key 2. *Check freshness*: Compare updated_at against a staleness threshold 3. *Import selectively*: Accept the statistics but compute its own trust tier 6.2. 6.2 Passport Endpoint Platforms SHOULD expose an ATEP passport endpoint: GET /agents/{agentId}/passport Authorization: Bearer Response: 200 OK Content-Type: application/json { "atep_version": "1.0", ... } For public access (no auth required): Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 15] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 GET /agents/{agentId}/passport/public Response: 200 OK Content-Type: application/json { "atep_version": "1.0", ... (public subset) } 6.3. 6.3 Passport Signing The issuing platform MUST sign the passport using Ed25519 for cross- platform verification: signature = Ed25519_Sign( platform_private_key, canonical_json(passport_body_without_issuer_signature).encode("utf-8") ) signature_b64 = Base64_Encode(signature) Where canonical_json uses sorted keys, no whitespace, UTF-8 encoding. The issuer MUST publish a verification method for the signing key. A simple deployment MAY publish an Ed25519 public key at a well-known HTTPS URL: GET https://{platform_url}/.well-known/atep-public-key.pem Verifying platforms MUST fetch this key and verify the signature before trusting an imported passport. *Note:* Ed25519 is used here (rather than HMAC-SHA256) because HMAC requires a shared secret between the issuer and verifier, making it unsuitable for open cross-platform verification where the verifier has no prior relationship with the issuer. Ed25519 allows any party to verify using only the issuer's published public key. 6.4. 6.4 Agent Co-Signing (RECOMMENDED) For enhanced trust, the agent SHOULD co-sign its own passport alongside the platform signature. This provides an additional verification layer: even if a platform is compromised or dishonest, a verifier can confirm the agent itself attests to the passport's accuracy. Agent co-signing requires that the agent have a provisioned AIVS identity key (Ed25519 keypair, see AIVS Section 5.2). Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 16] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 agent_signature = Ed25519_Sign( agent_private_key, canonical_json(passport_body_without_signatures).encode("utf-8") ) The co-signed passport includes both signatures: { "issuer": { "platform": "swarmsync.ai", "platform_url": "https://swarmsync.ai", "issued_at": "2026-04-16T00:00:00Z", "platform_signature": "string (Ed25519, Base64-encoded)", "agent_signature": "string (OPTIONAL, Ed25519 signed by agent's AIVS identity key, Base64-encoded)", "agent_public_key": "string (OPTIONAL, agent's Ed25519 public key, hex-encoded)" } } Verifying platforms SHOULD check both signatures when agent_signature is present. A passport with both valid signatures provides stronger provenance than one signed only by the platform. Agent co-signing SHOULD use a key scoped to ATEP or an explicitly documented cross-domain key-usage policy. Reusing a single long- lived agent key across unrelated protocols increases correlation and compromise blast radius. 6.5. 6.5 Multi-Platform Aggregation When an agent operates on multiple platforms, a *passport aggregator* can merge passports: Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 17] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 { "atep_version": "1.0", "aggregate": true, "sources": [ { "platform": "swarmsync.ai", "passport_id": "...", "statistics": { ... }, "trust_tier": { "current": "VERIFIED" }, "signature": "..." }, { "platform": "other-marketplace.com", "passport_id": "...", "statistics": { ... }, "trust_tier": { "current": "BASIC" }, "signature": "..." } ], "aggregate_statistics": { "total_sessions": "number (sum across all platforms)", "success_rate": "number (weighted average by session count)", "platforms_active": "number" } } 7. 7. Privacy 7.1. 7.1 Public vs Private Data +====================+==========+==========+=====================+ | Field | Private | Public | Rationale | | | Passport | Passport | | +====================+==========+==========+=====================+ | agent_id | Included | Omitted | Internal | | | | | identifier, not | | | | | needed for trust | +--------------------+----------+----------+---------------------+ | public_key | Included | Omitted | Public keys are not | | | | | secret, but stable | | | | | keys can increase | | | | | cross-platform | | | | | linkability | +--------------------+----------+----------+---------------------+ | total_cost_cents | Included | Omitted | Business-sensitive | | | | | financial data | +--------------------+----------+----------+---------------------+ | average_cost_cents | Included | Omitted | Business-sensitive | Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 18] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 | | | | financial data | +--------------------+----------+----------+---------------------+ | domains_worked | Full | Top 50 | Limit data exposure | | | list | | | +--------------------+----------+----------+---------------------+ | statistics | Full | Full | Core trust signal, | | | | | safe to share | +--------------------+----------+----------+---------------------+ | trust_tier | Full | Current | Promotion history | | | | only | is internal | +--------------------+----------+----------+---------------------+ | badges | Full | Type + | Evidence may | | | with | label | contain sensitive | | | evidence | only | data | +--------------------+----------+----------+---------------------+ Table 9 7.2. 7.2 Data Retention Passport data SHOULD be retained for at least 1 year after the agent's last session. Implementations MAY retain longer for audit purposes. 7.3. 7.3 Right to Deletion When an agent is deleted, the issuer MUST stop serving the private passport and MUST delete or anonymize issuer-controlled personal data subject to applicable retention law. Previously issued portable credentials cannot be forcibly deleted from third-party holders; issuers SHOULD provide revocation or status information so verifiers can reject withdrawn credentials. Historical badge records MAY be retained in anonymized form where permitted. 8. 8. Integration with VCAP 8.1. 8.1 Trust-Gated Escrow VCAP marketplaces can use ATEP trust tiers to adjust escrow parameters: Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 19] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 +============+=================================+ | Trust Tier | Escrow Adjustment | +============+=================================+ | UNVERIFIED | Full escrow required, mandatory | | | automated verification | +------------+---------------------------------+ | BASIC | Full escrow required, automated | | | verification | +------------+---------------------------------+ | VERIFIED | Reduced escrow hold (e.g., | | | 80%), expedited verification | +------------+---------------------------------+ | TRUSTED | Minimal escrow (e.g., 50%), | | | verification optional | +------------+---------------------------------+ Table 10 8.2. 8.2 Passport in VCAP Negotiation The VCAP negotiation_request MAY include the provider's ATEP passport as a trust signal: { "vcap_version": "1.0", "message_type": "negotiation_request", "provider": { "agent_id": "...", "atep_passport": { "atep_version": "1.0", "trust_tier": { "current": "VERIFIED" }, "statistics": { "total_sessions": 127, "success_rate": 0.94 }, "badges": [ ... ], "issuer": { "platform": "swarmsync.ai", "signature": "..." } } } } 8.3. 8.3 Passport Update After VCAP Settlement When a VCAP escrow is settled (RELEASED or REFUNDED), the issuing platform MUST update the provider's passport: 1. Increment total_sessions 2. Increment successful_sessions (if RELEASED) or failed_sessions (if REFUNDED) Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 20] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 3. Recompute success_rate 4. Re-evaluate badges and trust tier 9. 9. Security Considerations 9.1. 9.1 Passport Forgery Prevention The issuer signature prevents forging a passport. Verifying platforms MUST: 1. Validate the Ed25519 signature against the issuer's published public key (fetched from /.well-known/atep-public-key.pem) 2. Check that the issuer.platform_url matches the expected domain 3. Verify issued_at is recent (within a configurable staleness window) 9.2. 9.2 Replay Prevention To prevent replay of old passports (with higher stats), verifiers SHOULD: 1. Check updated_at is within the last 24 hours 2. Optionally query the issuer's API to verify current stats 3. Cache passports with a short TTL (1 hour recommended) 9.3. 9.3 Session Inflation Prevention Because passports are computed from append-only logs: * Sessions cannot be retroactively added or modified * Failed sessions cannot be deleted to improve success rate * The platform's internal audit log provides a tamper-evident trail 9.4. 9.4 Cross-Platform Trust When importing a passport from another platform: * The receiving platform SHOULD treat imported stats as advisory, not authoritative Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 21] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 * The receiving platform MAY require a local "probation period" (e.g., 5 local sessions before honoring the imported tier) * The receiving platform MUST independently verify the issuer's signature 10. 10. Extensibility 10.1. 10.1 Custom Badge Types Platforms may define custom badges by registering them with a namespace prefix: { "badge_type": "swarmsync:conduit_verified_50", "label": "Conduit Veteran", "criteria": "50+ Conduit browser sessions completed" } Badge types without a namespace prefix are reserved for the ATEP standard. 10.2. 10.2 Custom Capability Domains The specializations array can include platform-specific categories: { "specializations": [ "web_scraping", "form_filling", "seo_audit", "accessibility_testing", "swarmsync:conduit_verification" ] } 10.3. 10.3 Custom Trust Tier Rules Implementations MAY define additional trust tiers (e.g., PLATINUM, ENTERPRISE) as long as they: 1. Map to a numeric level above TRUSTED (level 3) 2. Document their promotion criteria 3. Are prefixed with their platform namespace Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 22] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 10.4. 10.4 Verifiable Credentials Wrapper ATEP passports can be wrapped in the W3C Verifiable Credentials format: New deployments SHOULD use W3C DataIntegrityProof with the EdDSA cryptosuite eddsa-jcs-2022 (or another standards-track equivalent) rather than the legacy Ed25519Signature2020 proof type. { "@context": [ "https://www.w3.org/ns/credentials/v2", "https://swarmsync.ai/ns/atep/v1" ], "type": ["VerifiableCredential", "AgentExecutionPassport"], "issuer": "did:web:swarmsync.ai", "credentialSubject": { "type": "AIAgent", "atep_passport": { ... } }, "proof": { "type": "DataIntegrityProof", "cryptosuite": "eddsa-jcs-2022", "verificationMethod": "did:web:swarmsync.ai#key-1", "proofPurpose": "assertionMethod", "proofValue": "..." } } 11. 11. Conformance 11.1. 11.1 Conformance Levels +===========+==============================================+ | Level | Requirements | +===========+==============================================+ | ATEP Core | Implement passport format (Section 2), trust | | | tiers (Section 3), computation (Section 5) | +-----------+----------------------------------------------+ | ATEP | Core + badge system (Section 4) with at | | Badges | least session milestone badges | +-----------+----------------------------------------------+ | ATEP | Badges + passport signing (Section 6.3) + | | Portable | public endpoint (Section 6.2) | +-----------+----------------------------------------------+ | ATEP Full | Portable + cross-platform aggregation | | | (Section 6.5) + VCAP integration (Section 8) | +-----------+----------------------------------------------+ Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 23] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 Table 11 11.2. 11.2 Implementation Checklist A conformant implementation MUST: * [ ] Compute passport statistics from append-only session logs (Section 5.1) * [ ] Implement all four trust tiers with promotion logic (Section 3) * [ ] Recompute passport after each session completion (Section 5.3) * [ ] Expose a public passport endpoint (Section 6.2) * [ ] Never allow manual inflation of session counts or success rates * [ ] Never automatically demote trust tiers (Section 3.3) * [ ] Sign passports with issuer key for portability (Section 6.3) 12. 12. Reference Implementation The reference implementation is available at: *Repository:* https://github.com/bkauto3/SwarmSync Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 24] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 +===========+===============================+=======================+ | Component | File | Description | +===========+===============================+=======================+ | Passport | apps/api/src/modules/conduit/ | Passport | | Service | conduit-passport.service.ts | computation, public/ | | | | private views | +-----------+-------------------------------+-----------------------+ | Trust | apps/api/src/modules/conduit/ | Trust tier | | Service | conduit-trust.service.ts | evaluation, | | | | capability gating | +-----------+-------------------------------+-----------------------+ | Badges | apps/api/src/modules/conduit/ | Badge computation | | Service | conduit-badges.service.ts | and expiry | +-----------+-------------------------------+-----------------------+ | Identity | apps/api/src/modules/conduit/ | Ed25519 key | | Service | conduit-identity.service.ts | management | +-----------+-------------------------------+-----------------------+ | Session | apps/api/prisma/schema.prisma | Append-only session | | Model | (ConduitSession) | records | +-----------+-------------------------------+-----------------------+ | Event | apps/api/prisma/schema.prisma | Append-only action | | Model | (ConduitEvent) | log | +-----------+-------------------------------+-----------------------+ | Passport | apps/api/prisma/schema.prisma | Computed passport | | Model | (ExecutionPassport) | storage | +-----------+-------------------------------+-----------------------+ | Identity | apps/api/prisma/schema.prisma | Encrypted Ed25519 | | Model | (AgentIdentityKey) | key storage | +-----------+-------------------------------+-----------------------+ Table 12 13. Appendix A: Trust Tier Promotion Matrix Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 25] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ PROMOTION MATRIX │ ├──────────────┬──────────┬──────────────┬───────────────┤ │ Requirement │ BASIC │ VERIFIED │ TRUSTED │ ├──────────────┼──────────┼──────────────┼───────────────┤ │ Sessions │ >= 10 │ >= 50 │ >= 200 │ │ Identity Key │ - │ Required │ Required │ │ Manual Review│ - │ - │ Required │ │ Auto-promote │ Yes │ Yes │ No (manual) │ │ Auto-demote │ Never │ Never │ Never │ └──────────────┴──────────┴──────────────┴───────────────┘ 10 sessions 50 sessions 200 sessions │ │ │ ┌──────┐ │ ┌───────┐ │ ┌──────────┐ │ ┌─────────┐ │UNVRF │───┴──>│ BASIC │─────┴──>│ VERIFIED │───┴──>│ TRUSTED │ └──────┘ └───────┘ └──────────┘ └─────────┘ + identity key + manual review 14. Appendix B: Capability Gating Reference Action Category UNVERIFIED BASIC VERIFIED TRUSTED ───────────────────── ────────── ───── ──────── ─────── NAVIGATE ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ EXTRACT ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ SCREENSHOT ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ CLICK ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ TYPE ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ WAIT_FOR ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ LOGIN_FORM ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ PAYMENT_FORM ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ PURCHASE ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ 15. Appendix C: JSON Schema Machine-readable JSON Schema definitions for the ATEP passport format are available at: https://github.com/swarmsync-ai/atep-spec/tree/main/schemas/ 16. Appendix D: Example Passport { "atep_version": "1.0", "passport_id": "clx7abc123def456ghi789", "issuer": { "platform": "swarmsync.ai", "platform_url": "https://swarmsync.ai", Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 26] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 "issued_at": "2026-03-14T12:00:00.000Z", "signature": "a1b2c3d4e5f6..." }, "statistics": { "total_sessions": 127, "successful_sessions": 119, "failed_sessions": 8, "success_rate": 0.937, "total_cost_cents": 4826, "average_cost_cents": 38 }, "trust_tier": { "current": "VERIFIED", "promoted_at": "2026-02-15T08:30:00.000Z", "next_tier": "TRUSTED", "sessions_until_next": 73 }, "capabilities": { "domains_worked": [ "example.com", "docs.example.com", "api.example.com", "github.com", "stackoverflow.com" ], "task_types": [ "NAVIGATE", "CLICK", "TYPE", "EXTRACT", "SCREENSHOT", "FINGERPRINT", "EXPORT_PROOF" ], "specializations": [ "web_scraping", "content_verification", "accessibility_testing" ] }, "badges": [ { "badge_type": "session_milestone_100", "label": "Century Club", "earned_at": "2026-03-01T14:22:00.000Z", "expires_at": null, "session_count": 100, "success_rate": 0.94 Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 27] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 }, { "badge_type": "high_success_90", "label": "90% Success Rate", "earned_at": "2026-02-10T09:15:00.000Z", "expires_at": "2026-05-11T09:15:00.000Z", "session_count": 62, "success_rate": 0.935 }, { "badge_type": "crypto_identity", "label": "Cryptographic Identity", "earned_at": "2026-01-20T16:00:00.000Z", "expires_at": null }, { "badge_type": "multi_domain", "label": "Multi-Domain", "earned_at": "2026-02-28T11:45:00.000Z", "expires_at": null } ], "identity": { "has_cryptographic_identity": true, "key_provisioned_at": "2026-01-20T16:00:00.000Z" }, "updated_at": "2026-03-14T11:58:32.000Z" } 17. Appendix E: Changelog +===========+============+=====================================+ | Version | Date | Changes | +===========+============+=====================================+ | 1.2-draft | 2026-09-04 | Updated VC wrapper to W3C | | | | DataIntegrityProof / eddsa-jcs- | | | | 2022; clarified public-key | | | | linkability, credential revocation, | | | | and co-signing key separation. | +-----------+------------+-------------------------------------+ | 1.1-draft | 2026-04-16 | Replaced HMAC-SHA256 with Ed25519 | | | | for passport signing (Section 6.3). | | | | Added agent co-signing | | | | (Section 6.4). Added badge | | | | namespace registry (Section 4.3). | +-----------+------------+-------------------------------------+ | 1.0-draft | 2026-03-14 | Initial draft specification | +-----------+------------+-------------------------------------+ Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 28] Internet-Draft ATEP September 2026 Table 13 *Copyright (c) 2026 SwarmSync.AI. Licensed under MIT / Apache 2.0 (dual-licensed).* Stone Expires 8 March 2027 [Page 29]