{
  "dataset": "glossary",
  "record": {
    "id": "agents-txt",
    "term": "agents.txt",
    "category": "protocols",
    "short_def": "A proposed root-level file that declares a site's identity, terms of use, service catalog and agentic endpoints to visiting AI agents.",
    "long_def": "Where robots.txt answers 'may you look at this?', agents.txt aims to answer 'what can you do here, and on what terms?' — a B2A (business-to-agent) capability manifest. The namespace is contested: several independent projects have used the agents.txt name for different purposes, and one prominent proposal was renamed agent-manifest.txt in March 2026 to disambiguate. It is an emerging, not-yet-standardized convention.",
    "see_also": [
      "agents-md",
      "robots-txt",
      "llms-txt"
    ],
    "etymology_origin": {
      "value": null,
      "verify_status": "verify-against-primary-at-build",
      "source_hint": "https://github.com/asturwebs/agents-txt — 'agents.txt' is a contested namespace with multiple independent proposals (one renamed to agent-manifest.txt in March 2026); no single coiner or standards body has been established"
    },
    "related_to": [
      "agents-md",
      "robots-txt",
      "llms-txt",
      "agent-identity"
    ],
    "contrast_with": "Unlike robots.txt, an exclusion contract that says what crawlers may NOT fetch, agents.txt is meant to advertise what agents CAN do — a capability and terms manifest rather than an access-denial list.",
    "example": "By March 2026 the agents.txt namespace was crowded enough that one prominent proposal was renamed agent-manifest.txt to disambiguate it from competing uses.",
    "source": "https://github.com/asturwebs/agents-txt",
    "status": "proposed",
    "why_it_matters": "agents.txt represents the emerging move from blocking agents (robots.txt) to inviting and instructing them — but its contested namespace means a site should track which proposal wins before committing.",
    "sameAs": [],
    "bridge_entity": "protocols/discovery/agents-txt",
    "last_verified": "2026-06-15",
    "md_twin": "/glossary/agents-txt.md"
  }
}