Agent passport
An agent passport is a signed credential about an AI agent's identity, usually with a bound key, that does not itself grant any authority.
The passport answers who the agent is and who vouches for it. What it may do is governed only by a mandate. A passport alone therefore never leads to a fully proven result; together with a mandate it allows checking whether both name the same agent.
Example
A company issues an agent passport to its invoicing agent: name, operator, version and public key. Merchants can see which agent is asking and who operates it before they verify its mandate.
How it differs
The agent passport describes who the agent is. The mandate describes what it may do. A signed HTTP request following Web Bot Auth proves that a request comes from it.
In practice
- Keep a passport with operator, version and key for every agent in production. This keeps it traceable which version of an agent carried out an action.
- Renew the passport whenever the key changes or a substantially new version ships, and let old passports expire in good time.
- Treat the passport as identity, never as permission. For every action, also verify the mandate with its limits.
Role in KYA
KYA verifies an agent passport in the SD-JWT VC format: signature, issuer, validity and the binding of the agent key. The passport alone is not enough for authority; that requires a mandate.
Related check: Agent and principal (subject_agent_binding). Do all parts name the same agent, is the principal named, does the agent hold the bound key?
Frequently asked questions
What is an agent passport?
A signed credential about the identity of an AI agent: who operates it, which version it is and which key belongs to it.
Is an agent passport enough for a purchase?
No. The passport proves the agent's identity, not its authority. A purchase also requires a mandate with limits.
Who issues an agent passport?
Usually the agent's operator or a body that has reviewed it. What matters is that the verifying party trusts the issuer.
How long should an agent passport be valid?
As short as practical, typically until the next key change or version. Short validity limits the damage if a key is compromised.
How does an agent passport differ from a user account?
A user account belongs to one service and only works there. An agent passport is a signed credential that any verifying party can check independently, even without access to the system in which the agent runs.