WebThing Protocol Community Group

Oct 13, 2025 by wbrum.org 99 views

The Vision of Agent Connect Protocol: A Discussion on Alignment with W3C Standards

Introduction

Hello, and thank you for taking the time to read this article. As a member of the Eclipse LMOS team and working at Deutsche Telekom, I'm excited to share my thoughts on the current path of the Agent Metadata specification, Agent Connect Protocol specification (ACP), and its proposed pure HTTP-based API. My goal is to spark a discussion on whether we're reinventing the wheel or leveraging established open W3C standards.

The Agent Connect Protocol (ACP) and its Proposed Pure HTTP-Based API

The Agent Connect Protocol (ACP) is a crucial component of the Agntcy initiative, aiming to enable seamless communication between autonomous agents on the web. However, I have concerns that we may be creating a new protocol without considering existing W3C standards. From our experience at Eclipse LMOS, we've found that HTTP is not the best protocol for asynchronous communication, especially when agents have long latencies. Alternatives like MQTT, AMQP, or WebSockets should also be considered to build reliable and scalable agent systems.

The Core Concepts of Agent Manifest and ACP

The core concepts of Agent Manifest and ACP describe agent metadata, data schemas, agent capabilities, and APIs. These concepts seem to align with what the W3C Web of Things (WoT) already provides. WoT has successfully addressed fragmentation of protocols in IoT by offering:

Protocol-Agnostic Interoperability

Supports various communication protocols (HTTP, MQTT, AMQP, WebSockets) without being tied to one by utilizing protocol bindings.

Thing Descriptions (TDs)

Uses JSON-LD to describe "Things" (agents, services, tools), defining capabilities, actions, events, metadata, and protocol-specific interactions.

Semantic Web Integration

Built on JSON Schema, Linked Data, and Semantic Web technologies for machine-readable extensibility.

Protocol Flexibility

Seamlessly switch between HTTP, MQTT, AMQP without altering application logic.
Supports multiple data formats (JSON, CBOR, etc.).
Enables both synchronous and asynchronous communication.

Cross-Domain Compatibility

WoT isn’t limited to IoT—it’s flexible enough to describe AI agents, tools, and services.

Browser and Client Support

WoT already has a standardized scripting API for browsers, which could be used for Agent use cases.

Discovery specification

Support the discovery of Things in internet-scale or local networks via registries or mDNS.

Evaluating Existing W3C Standards

Instead of developing new, custom protocols for multi-agent systems, we could consider whether ACP could also adopt or extend W3C WoT standards. At Eclipse LMOS, we've successfully implemented these concepts and would love to collaborate with Agntcy on that topic. WoT has working implementations in multiple languages, including:

TypeScript (node-wot)
Kotlin (kotlin-wot)
Python (wot-py)
Dart (dart_wot)

These implementations could serve as a solid foundation for adapting WoT with less effort.

Open Discussion and Next Steps

I'd love to hear your feedback on the following questions:

Should we evaluate existing W3C standards before creating a new Agent meta protocol?
What barriers exist to applying WoT for Agent Metadata and ACP?

Next Friday at 9 AM CET, I'll be presenting Eclipse LMOS, LMOS Protocol, and in a joint call with three W3C Community Groups: WebAgents, Web of Things, and the WebThing Protocol Community Group. If you're interested in joining and connecting, you can find the event details here: https://www.w3.org/events/meetings/5a77b997-467b-4d5d-bb40-b84789c17d2e/20250314T090000/

Conclusion

The vision of Agent Connect Protocol is an exciting initiative that has the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with autonomous agents on the web. However, it's essential that we consider existing W3C standards to avoid reinventing the wheel. By collaborating with the W3C community and leveraging established standards, we can accelerate the development of a standards-based internet of agents. I look forward to an open discussion on how we can align ACP with Eclipse LMOS to achieve this vision.
Q&A: Aligning Agent Connect Protocol with W3C Standards

Introduction

In our previous article, we discussed the potential alignment of the Agent Connect Protocol (ACP) with W3C standards, specifically the Web of Things (WoT). We explored how WoT's protocol-agnostic interoperability, thing descriptions, semantic web integration, protocol flexibility, cross-domain compatibility, browser and client support, and discovery specification could be leveraged to create a more robust and scalable agent system. In this article, we'll address some of the frequently asked questions (FAQs) related to this topic.

Q: What are the benefits of aligning ACP with W3C standards?

A: Aligning ACP with W3C standards offers several benefits, including:

Protocol-agnostic interoperability: ACP can seamlessly communicate with agents using different protocols, such as HTTP, MQTT, AMQP, or WebSockets.
Reduced fragmentation: By leveraging existing W3C standards, ACP can avoid creating a new protocol that might lead to fragmentation in the agent ecosystem.
Increased scalability: WoT's protocol flexibility and cross-domain compatibility enable ACP to handle a large number of agents and interactions.
Improved security: WoT's semantic web integration and JSON-LD-based thing descriptions provide a secure and machine-readable way to describe agents and their capabilities.

Q: How can ACP adopt or extend W3C WoT standards?

A: ACP can adopt or extend W3C WoT standards in several ways:

Use WoT's thing descriptions: ACP can use WoT's thing descriptions to describe agents and their capabilities, enabling seamless communication and interoperability.
Leverage WoT's protocol bindings: ACP can use WoT's protocol bindings to support multiple communication protocols, such as HTTP, MQTT, AMQP, or WebSockets.
Integrate with WoT's discovery specification: ACP can integrate with WoT's discovery specification to enable the discovery of agents in internet-scale or local networks.

Q: What are the potential barriers to applying WoT for ACP?

A: Some potential barriers to applying WoT for ACP include:

Learning curve: Adopting WoT standards may require a significant learning curve for developers familiar with ACP.
Integration complexity: Integrating WoT standards with ACP may require significant changes to the existing architecture and codebase.
Interoperability challenges: Ensuring seamless interoperability between ACP and WoT may require additional work to resolve potential compatibility issues.

Q: How can the W3C community and ACP developers collaborate?

A: The W3C community and ACP developers can collaborate in several ways:

Joint working groups: Establishing joint working groups between the W3C community and ACP developers can facilitate the exchange of ideas and expertise.
Open-source implementations: Developing open-source implementations of WoT standards can help ACP developers learn and adopt WoT standards.
Community engagement: Engaging with the W3C community and ACP developers through forums, meetings, and conferences can foster collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Q: What are the next steps for aligning ACP with W3C standards?

A: The next steps for aligning ACP with W3C standards include:

Conducting a thorough analysis: Conducting a thorough analysis of WoT standards and their potential alignment with ACP.
Establishing a joint working group: Establishing a joint working group between the W3C community and ACP developers to facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing.
Developing open-source implementations: Developing open-source implementations of WoT standards to help ACP developers learn and adopt WoT standards.

Conclusion

Aligning ACP with W3C standards offers several benefits, including protocol-agnostic interoperability, reduced fragmentation, increased scalability, and improved security. By adopting or extending W3C WoT standards, ACP can leverage the existing knowledge and expertise of the W3C community and reduce the complexity of developing a new protocol. We hope this Q&A article has provided valuable insights into the potential alignment of ACP with W3C standards.