What is an agent business identity?
An agent business identity is a documented link between a legal organization, an accountable natural person, and a specific software agent. It should say which agent is operating, which organization stands behind it, what environment it uses, what it may do, how another party can check status, and how an authorized controller can suspend, replace, or revoke the record.
It is not an “AI EIN,” a government passport, or proof that the agent is a legal person. The IRS requires the responsible party on most EIN applications to be an individual, not a software system or another entity. (IRS, Instructions for Form SS-4)
If you are unsure which records your business needs, begin with the Agent Business Readiness Scan. For identity and discovery implementation, see the Agent Identity and Discovery Pack.
What records make the identity useful?
A useful identity has several layers. Each layer answers a different counterparty question.
| Layer | Question it answers | Typical evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Organization | Which business is accountable? | Formation record, legal name, jurisdiction, EIN record |
| Controller | Which person can direct or stop the agent? | Authorized role and private identity evidence |
| Agent | Which software system is acting? | Canonical agent ID, name, deployment, environment |
| Domain | Where is the agent officially described? | Controlled domain and HTTPS endpoints |
| Key metadata | Which public key may be used to check signed material? | Public key or JWKS reference, never a private key |
| Authority | What may this agent do? | Current authority grant, limits, approvals, expiry |
| Status | Is the record current? | Active, suspended, replaced, expired, or revoked |
No single identifier answers all of these questions. A tax ID identifies the entity for tax administration. A domain helps establish an official publication point. A public key can support signature checks. An authority record states what the organization has actually delegated.
What should an Agent Card contain?
An A2A Agent Card is a machine-readable description of an agent’s identity, interfaces, skills, capabilities, and security requirements. A2A version 1.0 specifies the public discovery location as /.well-known/agent-card.json. It also warns against placing credentials or sensitive implementation details in the public card. (A2A Protocol Specification)
Publish only what is live and tested:
- the agent’s stable name and description;
- organization or provider information that is safe to disclose;
- supported interfaces and protocol versions;
- accurate skills with clear inputs and outputs;
- authentication requirements, without embedded secrets;
- public contact, incident, and status endpoints;
- a version or update signal so stale records can be detected.
An Agent Card describes capabilities. It does not prove ownership, provider approval, security, or legal authority by itself. Those claims need separate evidence.
How do MCP, A2A, and OpenAPI fit together?
These surfaces solve different problems. A2A describes how agents discover and communicate with other agents. MCP describes tools and resources that a client can call. OpenAPI describes HTTP operations. A business may publish one or more of them, but every description should match the deployed service.
For protected HTTP-based MCP servers, the MCP authorization specification uses OAuth-based resource authorization. Authentication tokens belong in the authorization flow, not in public discovery files. (Model Context Protocol authorization)
Publishing more files is not automatically better. A small, accurate surface is more trustworthy than a large catalog containing missing endpoints or exaggerated skills.
What information can be public?
Separate identity information into public, counterparty-gated, and private records.
| Visibility | Suitable information | Keep out |
|---|---|---|
| Public | Organization name with consent, agent ID, public key metadata, broad authority class, status, dates, revocation state | Full EIN, identity documents, private addresses, ownership details, provider secrets |
| Counterparty-gated | Detailed authority, evidence references, provider packet, fuller operating context | Reusable credentials and unrelated private records |
| Private | EIN letter, controller identity documents, ownership records, correspondence | Anything not required for the active case |
A hash of a short identifier such as an EIN is not a safe substitute for privacy. Someone can often test likely values against the hash. Do not publish full EINs or EIN hashes.
Is an LEI or vLEI required?
Not for most small agent businesses today. A Legal Entity Identifier can provide a globally resolvable organization identifier, while the verifiable LEI ecosystem is designed to express organizational identity and authorized roles in a verifiable form. Issuance follows the GLEIF governance framework and qualified issuer model. (GLEIF, The verifiable LEI)
Treat LEI and vLEI support as an optional, partner-assisted layer. Do not describe an internal agent dossier as an LEI, vLEI, or government credential.
How should identity changes be handled?
Identity must support replacement and revocation from the start. Record the status, effective time, reason, authorizer, replacement version, and parties that should be notified. Preserve old versions for audit, but make the current state unambiguous.
A practical drill is simple: publish a test identity, verify it, suspend it, confirm that verification reports the suspension, replace it, then confirm that the old version remains inspectable but is no longer current.
What should a business do first?
Start with the accountable organization and controller, inventory each agent separately, and describe only capabilities that are already deployed. Then bind the public discovery files to a current authority and revocation path.
Use the free readiness route to map missing prerequisites. When the underlying records are ready, the Agent Identity and Discovery Pack can scope the canonical identity, Agent Card, protocol metadata, and registry checklist.
Last updated August 2026. This is general business and technical information, not legal, tax, security, or provider-eligibility advice.
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