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Agent Identity Protocol (AIP)

License TypeScript Status Security NPM Smithery

The open standard for cryptographic provenance and attribution for AI Agents.

"Agents are currently anonymous ghosts. AIP gives them a persistent, verifiable identity."

🚀 The Problem

When an AI Agent (Claude, ChatGPT, or custom) attempts to interact with the real world—updating a database, calling an API, or executing a trade—the receiving system sees an anonymous request.

  • Who did this? (Was it the Support Bot or the Finance Bot?)
  • Was it tampered with? (Did a router or middleman change the prompt?)
  • Can I audit it? (How do I prove which agent authorized this action?)

🛠 The Solution

Agent Identity Protocol (AIP) is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server that provides a local, secure "Wallet" for AI Agents. It enables Attribution and Non-Repudiation for agentic workflows.

Core Capabilities

  1. Identity Generation: Creates a persistent cryptographic keypair (RSA-2048) for the agent.
  2. Cryptographic Signing: Allows the agent to sign payloads (actions) using its private key.
  3. Verification: Provides a standard method for APIs to verify agent actions against a public key.

📦 Installation

Method 1: Quick Install (Smithery)

Best for testing and quick usage.

⚠️ Note: Identities created via Smithery are temporary (sandboxed) and will be lost when you restart Claude unless you configure a custom path (see Configuration).

npx -y @smithery/cli@latest install @faalantir/mcp-agent-identity --client claude

Method 2: Developer Install (Source)

Best for production use and persistent identity storage.

# Clone the repository 

git clone https://github.com/faalantir/mcp-agent-identity.git

# Install dependencies 

cd mcp-agent-identity 
npm install && npm run build

Then add this to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "agent-identity": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/mcp-agent-identity/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

💾 Configuration & Storage

By default, the server tries to save identity.json in your project folder. If it cannot write there (e.g., inside a Smithery container), it falls back to the system temporary directory (RAM/Temp).

To force a permanent location for your keys: Update your claude_desktop_config.json with the AGENT_IDENTITY_PATH environment variable:

"agent-identity": {
  "command": "...",
  "args": ["..."],
  "env": {
    "AGENT_IDENTITY_PATH": "/Users/YOURNAME/Desktop/my-identity.json"
  }
}

📖 Usage Flow

Once installed, your Agent automatically gains these tools. You can prompt it naturally:

1. Setup (One Time)

User: "Create a permanent identity for yourself named 'FinanceBot'." Agent: Calls create_identity...

"Identity created. My Public ID is MIIBIjAN... (I have securely stored the Private Key)."

2. Check Identity

User: "Show me my identity details." Agent: Calls get_identity...

"Agent Name: FinanceBot Location: /Users/aarti/Desktop/my-identity.json Public Key: ..."

3. The Transaction

User: "Please authorize a transfer of $50 to Alice." Agent: Calls sign_message...

"I have signed the transaction payload. Signature: 7f8a9d... (Verifiable)"

4. Verification (The "Bank" Side)

Use our NPM SDK to verify signatures in your backend:

npm install @agent-identity/verify
import { verifyAgentIdentity } from "@agent-identity/verify"; 
const result = verifyAgentIdentity({ message: "pay 500", signature: "...", publicKey: "..." }); 
if (result.isValid) { // Proceed with transaction }

🗺 Roadmap & Architecture

We are designed to be algorithm-agnostic. While v0.1 uses local files for simplicity, the protocol is built to swap the "Signer Engine" for enterprise backends.

  • v0.1 (Current): Local RSA-2048 keys. Self-sovereign identity. Best for internal tools, debugging, and audit logs.

  • v0.2 (Next): Ed25519 support (smaller, faster keys) and DID (Decentralized Identifier) export.

  • v0.3: Cloud Key Management (AWS KMS / Google Cloud HSM) integration for enterprise deployments.

  • v0.4: Hardware Enclave / TPM support (keys generated inside the chip, never exposed to OS).

  • v1.0: The "Agent Registry" – A centralized directory to map Public Keys to verified Human Owners (Chain of Trust).

⚠️ Security & Limitations

  • Self-Signed Trust: Currently, agents generate their own keys. This creates a "Self-Signed Certificate" model. This is excellent for Attribution (knowing which agent did X) but requires an external trust mechanism for high-stakes Authorization.

  • Key Storage: Keys are currently stored in identity.json on the host machine. Do not use this in shared environments without proper file permissions.

🤝 Contributing

We are looking for contributors to help build Verification SDKs for Python and Go.

Maintained by the Agent Identity Working Group.