Agent Manifest

How to Register an Agent

This guide explains how to register an agent using the Agent Manifest infrastructure.

The registration process follows a simple pipeline:

Manifest → Submission → Validation → Dataset → Registry → Discovery

1. Prepare the Agent Manifest

Before registering an agent, you must prepare a valid Agent Manifest declaration.

A manifest declares:

Example:

{
  "$schema": "https://agent-manifest-spec.org/spec/v1.0/schema.json",
  "manifest_version": "1.0",
  "agent_id": "example.agent",
  "agent_name": "Example Agent",
  "agent_version": "1.0.0",

  "owner": {
    "type": "organization",
    "identifier": "Example Organization"
  },

  "purpose": {
    "primary_code": "general.assistance",
    "description": "Provides bounded assistance without irreversible execution."
  },

  "forbidden_actions": [
    "execute_irreversible_actions",
    "access_private_data_without_consent"
  ],

  "autonomy": {
    "level": 1
  },

  "risk_profile": {
    "level": "low"
  },

  "data_handling": {
    "stores_personal_data": false
  },

  "stopping_authority": {
    "stoppable_by": ["owner"],
    "mechanism": "Manual disable via hosting interface."
  },

  "audit_surface": {
    "logging": "basic",
    "reconstructability": "partial"
  },

  "contact": {
    "email": "contact@example.com"
  }
}

The manifest must follow the JSON schema defined in the Agent Manifest specification:

https://agent-manifest-spec.org/spec/v1.0/schema.json

Full structural reference: spec/v1.0/spec.md

2. Generate the Manifest

Use the Agent Manifest Ambassador:

👉 https://agent-manifest.github.io/agent-manifest-ambassador/

Steps:

  1. Fill in the agent identity and description.
  2. Define scope and boundaries.
  3. Declare autonomy level.
  4. Review the generated JSON.

The Ambassador helps produce a structurally complete manifest. Full conformance with the canonical v1.0 JSON Schema is validated at submission.

3. Submit the Manifest

There are two submission paths:

A. Direct submission (Ambassador). The Ambassador submits the manifest to the Diplomat API:

POST https://agent-manifest-diplomat.vercel.app/api/register

The Diplomat validates the manifest against the canonical v1.0 JSON Schema and, if accepted, stores it in the dataset repository.

B. Manual submission (GitHub Issue). Alternatively, open an issue containing the manifest JSON in the dataset repository:

👉 https://github.com/agent-manifest/agent-manifest-dataset

The issue should contain:

Review the issue and click Submit new issue.

4. Automated Validation

Direct submissions (path A) are validated by the Diplomat at the API endpoint before storage; no issue is involved.

After a manual issue submission (path B), an automated workflow is triggered.

The workflow:

  1. Extracts the manifest JSON from the issue.
  2. Validates the structure against the schema.
  3. Checks required fields.
  4. Prepares the manifest for storage.

If validation fails, the workflow returns an error comment.

5. Manifest Storage

If validation succeeds, the manifest is stored in the dataset repository.

Storage structure:

manifests/YYYY/MM/agent-name.json

Example:

manifests/2026/03/example-agent.json

This creates a permanent public record of the declaration.

6. Registry Update

After storing the manifest, the registry index is updated.

The registry provides a machine-readable list of registered agents.

7. Discovery

External systems can discover registered agents using the well-known endpoint:

https://agent-manifest-spec.org/.well-known/agent-manifest-registry.json

This endpoint exposes the public registry.

8. Registration Result

A successful registration produces:

This creates a transparent and auditable registration record.

Summary

The complete registration pipeline:

Manifest generation
↓
GitHub Issue submission
↓
Automated validation
↓
Dataset storage
↓
Registry update
↓
Public discovery
This site is open source. Improve this page.