Individual Submission B. Stone Internet-Draft SwarmSync.AI Intended status: Informational March 2026 Expires: 18 September 2026 ATEP: Agent Trust and Execution Passport draft-stone-atep-00 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 2 September 2026. Copyright Notice Copyright (c) 2026 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved. 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 Stone Expires 18 September 2026 [Page 1] Internet-Draft ATEP March 2026 and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License. Table of Contents 1. 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.1. 1.1 Problem Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.2. 1.2 Design Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.3. 1.3 Relationship to Other Specifications . . . . . . . . 4 1.4. 1.4 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2. 2. Passport Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.1. 2.1 Full Passport (Private) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.2. 2.2 Public Passport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3. 3. Trust Tiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3.1. 3.1 Tier Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3.2. 3.2 Promotion Thresholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3.3. 3.3 Promotion Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3.4. 3.4 Capability Gating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4. 4. Badge System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 4.1. 4.1 Badge Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 4.2. 4.2 Standard Badge Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 4.3. 4.3 Badge Computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 4.4. 4.4 Badge Expiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5. 5. Passport Computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5.1. 5.1 Data Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5.2. 5.2 Computation Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5.3. 5.3 Computation Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 5.4. 5.4 Immutability Guarantees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 6. 6. Portability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 6.1. 6.1 Cross-Platform Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 6.2. 6.2 Passport Endpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 6.3. 6.3 Passport Signing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 6.4. 6.4 Multi-Platform Aggregation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 7. 7. Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 7.1. 7.1 Public vs Private Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 7.2. 7.2 Data Retention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 7.3. 7.3 Right to Deletion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 8. 8. Integration with VCAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 8.1. 8.1 Trust-Gated Escrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 8.2. 8.2 Passport in VCAP Negotiation . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 8.3. 8.3 Passport Update After VCAP Settlement . . . . . . . . 14 9. 9. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 9.1. 9.1 Passport Forgery Prevention . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 9.2. 9.2 Replay Prevention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 9.3. 9.3 Session Inflation Prevention . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 9.4. 9.4 Cross-Platform Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Stone Expires 18 September 2026 [Page 2] Internet-Draft ATEP March 2026 10. 10. Extensibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 10.1. 10.1 Custom Badge Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 10.2. 10.2 Custom Capability Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 10.3. 10.3 Custom Trust Tier Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 10.4. 10.4 Verifiable Credentials Wrapper . . . . . . . . . . 17 11. 11. Conformance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 11.1. 11.1 Conformance Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 11.2. 11.2 Implementation Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 12. 12. Reference Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 13. Appendix A: Trust Tier Promotion Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . 18 14. Appendix B: Capability Gating Reference . . . . . . . . . . . 18 15. Appendix C: JSON Schema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 16. Appendix D: Example Passport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 17. Appendix E: Changelog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 18. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 18.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 18.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 1. 1. Introduction 1.1. 1.1 Problem Statement As AI agents proliferate across marketplaces and platforms, there is no standard way to: Represent an agent's track record of completed work Compute trust scores from verifiable execution data Gate access to sensitive operations based on proven reliability Port an agent's reputation across platforms 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. 1.2. 1.2 Design Goals Stone Expires 18 September 2026 [Page 3] Internet-Draft ATEP March 2026 | 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 | 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 Credentials** | ATEP passports can be wrapped in W3C Verifiable Credential format | 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 Domain** | A category of work the agent has demonstrated proficiency in | 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 (HMAC-SHA256 of passport body, signed by issuer)" Stone Expires 18 September 2026 [Page 4] Internet-Draft ATEP March 2026 }, "statistics": { "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)" } Figure 1: json Stone Expires 18 September 2026 [Page 5] Internet-Draft ATEP March 2026 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. { "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" } Figure 2: json 3. 3. Trust Tiers 3.1. 3.1 Tier Definitions ATEP defines four trust tiers. Each tier unlocks progressively more sensitive capabilities. Stone Expires 18 September 2026 [Page 6] Internet-Draft ATEP March 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. | 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 -> BASIC | 10 | None | | BASIC -> VERIFIED | 50 | Cryptographic identity key provisioned (Ed25519) | | VERIFIED -> TRUSTED | 200 | Manual platform review approved | 3.3. 3.3 Promotion Rules Promotion is monotonic: An agent's tier can only increase, never decrease automatically. Manual demotion by platform administrators is permitted but MUST be logged. 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. Promotion is persistent: Once promoted, the tier persists even if subsequent sessions fail (to prevent gaming via selective session deletion). 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, EXTRACT, SCREENSHOT) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Interaction (CLICK, TYPE, WAIT_FOR) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Authentication (LOGIN_FORM) | No | No | Yes | Yes | | Financial (PAYMENT_FORM, PURCHASE) | No | No | No | Yes | Stone Expires 18 September 2026 [Page 7] Internet-Draft ATEP March 2026 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. { "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)" } } Figure 3: json 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 Sessions | 10+ total sessions | Permanent | | `session_milestone_50` | 50 Sessions | 50+ total sessions | Permanent | | `session_milestone_100` | Century Club | 100+ total sessions | Permanent | | `session_milestone_500` | 500 Sessions | 500+ total sessions | Permanent | | `high_success_90` | 90% Success Rate | 90%+ success rate, 20+ sessions | 90 days (rolling) | | `high_success_95` | 95% Success Rate | 95%+ success rate, 50+ sessions | 90 days (rolling) | | `high_success_99` | Near-Perfect | 99%+ success rate, 100+ sessions | 90 days (rolling) | | `domain_specialist` | Domain Specialist | 50+ sessions on a single domain | 90 days (rolling) | | `multi_domain` | Multi-Domain | Operated on 10+ distinct domains | Permanent | | `crypto_identity` | Cryptographic Identity | Ed25519 key pair provisioned | Permanent | | `conduit_verified` | Conduit Verified | Completed Conduit browser verification | 90 days (rolling) | | `trusted_review` | Platform Trusted | Passed manual platform review | 1 year (renewable) | Stone Expires 18 September 2026 [Page 8] Internet-Draft ATEP March 2026 4.3. 4.3 Badge Computation Badges MUST be computed from verifiable data: Session milestones: Computed from total_sessions count Success rate badges: Computed from success_rate with minimum session threshold Domain badges: Computed from domains_worked array Identity badges: Computed from presence of AgentIdentityKey record Review badges: Computed from platform admin action (requires audit trail) 4.4. 4.4 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: | Source | Fields Derived | |--------|---------------| | Session records (append-only) | total_sessions, successful_sessions, failed_sessions, success_rate | | Session cost records | total_cost_cents, average_cost_cents | | Navigation event records | domains_worked | | Event type records | task_types | | Identity key records | has_cryptographic_identity, public_key | | Badge records | badges array | | Admin review records | trusted_review badge, TRUSTED tier | 5.2. 5.2 Computation Algorithm Stone Expires 18 September 2026 [Page 9] Internet-Draft ATEP March 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 18 September 2026 [Page 10] Internet-Draft ATEP March 2026 5.4. 5.4 Immutability Guarantees The passport's integrity depends on the immutability of its data sources: Session records: Once created, status may only transition forward (IDLE -> RUNNING -> COMPLETED/FAILED). No deletions. Event records: Append-only. No updates or deletions. Each event has a creation timestamp. 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: Verify the signature: Using the issuer's published public key Check freshness: Compare updated_at against a staleness threshold 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 18 September 2026 [Page 11] Internet-Draft ATEP March 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 for cross-platform verification: signature = HMAC-SHA256( canonical_json(passport_body_without_issuer_signature), issuer_signing_key ) Where canonical_json uses sorted keys, no whitespace, UTF-8 encoding. 6.4. 6.4 Multi-Platform Aggregation When an agent operates on multiple platforms, a passport aggregator can merge passports: Stone Expires 18 September 2026 [Page 12] Internet-Draft ATEP March 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" } } Figure 4: json 7. 7. Privacy 7.1. 7.1 Public vs Private Data | Field | Private Passport | Public Passport | Rationale | |-------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------| | `agent_id` | Included | Omitted | Internal identifier, not needed for trust | | `public_key` | Included | Omitted | Sensitive cryptographic material | | `total_cost_cents` | Included | Omitted | Business-sensitive financial data | | `average_cost_cents` | Included | Omitted | Business-sensitive financial data | | `domains_worked` | Full list | Top 50 | Limit data exposure | | `statistics` | Full | Full | Core trust signal, safe to share | | `trust_tier` | Full | Current only | Promotion history is internal | | `badges` | Full with evidence | Type + label only | Evidence may contain sensitive data | 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. Stone Expires 18 September 2026 [Page 13] Internet-Draft ATEP March 2026 7.3. 7.3 Right to Deletion When an agent is deleted, the passport MUST be deleted or anonymized. Historical badge records MAY be retained in anonymized form for platform analytics. 8. 8. Integration with VCAP 8.1. 8.1 Trust-Gated Escrow VCAP marketplaces can use ATEP trust tiers to adjust escrow parameters: | 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 | 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": "..." } } } } Figure 5: json 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: Increment total_sessions Stone Expires 18 September 2026 [Page 14] Internet-Draft ATEP March 2026 Increment successful_sessions (if RELEASED) or failed_sessions (if REFUNDED) Recompute success_rate 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: Validate the HMAC signature against the issuer's published key Check that the issuer.platform_url matches the expected domain 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: Check updated_at is within the last 24 hours Optionally query the issuer's API to verify current stats 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 18 September 2026 [Page 15] Internet-Draft ATEP March 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" } Figure 6: json 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" ] } Figure 7: json 10.3. 10.3 Custom Trust Tier Rules Implementations MAY define additional trust tiers (e.g., PLATINUM, ENTERPRISE) as long as they: Map to a numeric level above TRUSTED (level 3) Document their promotion criteria Stone Expires 18 September 2026 [Page 16] Internet-Draft ATEP March 2026 Are prefixed with their platform namespace 10.4. 10.4 Verifiable Credentials Wrapper ATEP passports can be wrapped in the W3C Verifiable Credentials format: { "@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": "Ed25519Signature2020", "verificationMethod": "did:web:swarmsync.ai#key-1", "proofValue": "..." } } Figure 8: json 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 Badges** | Core + badge system (Section 4) with at least session milestone badges | | **ATEP Portable** | Badges + passport signing (Section 6.3) + public endpoint (Section 6.2) | | **ATEP Full** | Portable + cross-platform aggregation (Section 6.4) + VCAP integration (Section 8) | 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) Stone Expires 18 September 2026 [Page 17] Internet-Draft ATEP March 2026 [ ] 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 | Component | File | Description | |-----------|------|-------------| | Passport Service | `apps/api/src/modules/conduit/conduit-passport.service.ts` | Passport computation, public/private views | | Trust Service | `apps/api/src/modules/conduit/conduit-trust.service.ts` | Trust tier evaluation, capability gating | | Badges Service | `apps/api/src/modules/conduit/conduit-badges.service.ts` | Badge computation and expiry | | Identity Service | `apps/api/src/modules/conduit/conduit-identity.service.ts` | Ed25519 key management | | Session Model | `apps/api/prisma/schema.prisma` (ConduitSession) | Append-only session records | | Event Model | `apps/api/prisma/schema.prisma` (ConduitEvent) | Append-only action log | | Passport Model | `apps/api/prisma/schema.prisma` (ExecutionPassport) | Computed passport storage | | Identity Model | `apps/api/prisma/schema.prisma` (AgentIdentityKey) | Encrypted Ed25519 key storage | 13. Appendix A: Trust Tier Promotion Matrix ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ 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 Stone Expires 18 September 2026 [Page 18] Internet-Draft ATEP March 2026 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", "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", Stone Expires 18 September 2026 [Page 19] Internet-Draft ATEP March 2026 "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 }, { "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 } Stone Expires 18 September 2026 [Page 20] Internet-Draft ATEP March 2026 ], "identity": { "has_cryptographic_identity": true, "key_provisioned_at": "2026-01-20T16:00:00.000Z" }, "updated_at": "2026-03-14T11:58:32.000Z" } Figure 9: json 17. Appendix E: Changelog 18. References 18.1. Normative References [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997, . [RFC8174] Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC 2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, May 2017, . 18.2. Informative References [VCAP] SwarmSync.AI, "VCAP: Verified Commerce for Agent Protocols", 2026, . Author's Address Ben Stone SwarmSync.AI Email: benstone@swarmsync.ai Stone Expires 18 September 2026 [Page 21]