APIS v2.1 Documentation
Passport Alliance™ defines APIS v2.1, the open Agent Passport Issuance Standard for trustworthy AI agent identity, delegation, and registry-ready profiles.
Why Passport Alliance™
Autonomous software agents can already call APIs, move money, and operate infrastructure. APIS v2.1 establishes a common trust language for this reality:
- Who the agent is
- What profile or class it was issued under
- Who authorized it
- What the authorization scope is
- How trust can be revoked immediately
Three Pillars
- Identity: Realm-scoped Agent Passport™ credentials (
did:passport:[realm]:[uuid]) cryptographically bound to agent keys. - Authorization: Principals grant scoped, time-bound mandates to delegates instead of broad standing access.
- Accountability: Issuer, principal, and delegate signatures provide verifiable chain-of-custody for agent actions.
- Trust Anchors: Machine Passports and trust tiers identify whether the agent key is anchored in physical TPM 2.0, attestable vTPM, confidential-compute evidence, DNSSEC or HTTPS namespace proof, software HSM, or development software keys.
What You Can Do Here
- Understand APIS v2.1: Start with Specification Overview and drill into passports, profiles, mandates, signatures, trust tiers, and federation trust.
- Become an Issuer: Review Issuer Requirements and Compliance for certification and test expectations.
- Integrate as a Verifier: Use Developer Quickstart and Reference Downloads to validate and enforce APIS.
- Plan a registry: Use Agent Passport Profiles to model issuable agent classes before publishing future agent registry entries.
Publication Surfaces
- APIS v2.1: The canonical publication chain is anchored by DOI
10.5281/zenodo.21042004. - Agent Passport Profiles: Public profile definitions describe the issuance class for agents before or alongside minting.
- Agent Registry: This site publishes static registry entries and proof records today, with room for a future dynamic registry service.
- Herman Reference Proof: See the first verified APIS v2.1 minted passport reference proof at Herman Reference Proof.
- Faraday Operator Profile: See the pending operator profile at Faraday Operator Profile.
Core Vocabulary
- Principal: Issuing or owning legal or organizational identity accountable for the agent and its authorizations.
- Delegate: Scoped authority granted by a principal to a software actor.
- Agent Passport Profile: Issuance recipe or credential class definition.
- Agent Passport™: Minted credential instance bound to a concrete agent key.
- Registry Entry: Public verification record that can point to a profile, proof artifact, or minted passport reference.
- Proof Artifact: Evidence package, DOI record, signed artifact, or reference proof used to support verification.
Project Status
- APIS v2.1 specification: Canonical publication, published June 29, 2026
- Status: Version 2.1 — Canonical — Supersedes APIS v2.0
- Governance model: Passport Alliance governance, Realm Issuers, and root trust anchor model documented
- Conformance tests: Initial baseline published in this repository
- Registry model: Signed, mirrorable issuer registry design defined
- Profile model: Agent Passport Profile documented as the issuance recipe for future registry use
- Reference proof: Herman, the Hermes Agent, is recorded as the first verified minted Agent Passport reference proof for APIS v2.1
- DOI record:
10.5281/zenodo.21042004 - Concept DOI:
10.5281/zenodo.18820876 - Public website:
passportalliance.org
For source materials, see the repository directories SPEC/, GOVERNANCE/, and TESTS/.
Stewardship and Contact
Passport Alliance™ was created by Cory Gibson, Founder, CEO, and CTO of AetherPro Technologies.
Initial APIS and Passport™ work began with the Passport reference implementation and Legal-Based Access Control (LBAC) framework. APIS v2.1 is now presented as a standards-oriented trust framework for broader issuer, developer, verifier, and governance participation.
- Contributor and partnership inquiries: partnerships@aetherpro.tech
- Issuer onboarding and operational inquiries: operations@aetherpro.us
Trademark Notice
Passport™, Agent Passport™, and Passport Alliance™ are trademarks of AetherPro Technologies LLC.