{
  "dataset": "protocols",
  "record": {
    "id": "erc-8004",
    "name": "ERC-8004",
    "full_name": "ERC-8004: Trustless Agents",
    "layer": "identity",
    "creator": "Marco De Rossi, Davide Crapis, Jordan Ellis, Erik Reppel (Ethereum Improvement Proposal)",
    "status": "Draft (Standards Track: ERC)",
    "year": 2025,
    "one_liner": "An Ethereum standard adding on-chain Identity, Reputation and Validation registries so agents can be discovered and trusted across organizational boundaries — a trust layer that extends A2A.",
    "spec_url": "https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-8004",
    "snippet": "Three on-chain registries — Identity, Reputation, Validation — give A2A agents portable, verifiable trust.",
    "abbreviation": "ERC-8004",
    "also_known_as": [
      "ERC-8004",
      "Trustless Agents",
      "EIP-8004"
    ],
    "canonical_spec_url": "https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-8004",
    "entity_uri": "https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-8004",
    "taxonomy_layer": "identity",
    "sub_layer": "on-chain-agent-trust-registry",
    "protocol_type": "verification",
    "central_problem": "Lets AI agents be discovered, authenticated, and trusted across organizational boundaries without preexisting relationships, by anchoring identity, reputation, and validation in on-chain registries.",
    "maintainer": "Ethereum community via the EIP/ERC process (authors: Marco De Rossi, Davide Crapis, Jordan Ellis, Erik Reppel)",
    "governance_body": "Ethereum (EIP/ERC Standards Track)",
    "license": "CC0 (Ethereum EIPs are published under CC0)",
    "maturity_tag": "emerging",
    "current_spec_version": {
      "value": "Draft",
      "verify_status": "verify-against-primary-at-build",
      "source_hint": "https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-8004",
      "note": "Status observed as Draft (Standards Track: ERC) on the canonical EIP page; confirm whether it has advanced (Review/Last Call/Final) at build."
    },
    "spec_date": {
      "value": "2025-08-13",
      "verify_status": "verify-against-primary-at-build",
      "source_hint": "https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-8004",
      "note": "Created date 2025-08-13 per the canonical EIP header; confirm at build."
    },
    "launch_date": "2025-08-13",
    "last_verified": "2026-06-15",
    "transport": "On-chain smart-contract registries (Ethereum and EVM networks)",
    "core_mechanism": "ERC-8004 specifies three lightweight on-chain registries: an Identity Registry (discoverable, cross-chain agent IDs), a Reputation Registry (structured, verifiable feedback), and a Validation Registry (cryptographic / crypto-economic task verification via reputation, stake-secured validation, or TEEs). It complements A2A and MCP — A2A handles message/capability exchange, ERC-8004 adds the verifiable identity, portable reputation, and validation A2A lacks.",
    "discovery_endpoint": "On-chain Identity Registry lookups (agent IDs); cross-chain",
    "settlement_type": null,
    "adoption_metric": {
      "value": null,
      "verify_status": "verify-against-primary-at-build",
      "source_hint": "https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-8004",
      "note": "Reputation/Identity contract deployments reported on Ethereum mainnet + 20+ networks (Jan 2026) per secondary sources; not asserted from a primary doc — confirm at build."
    },
    "notable_adopters": [
      {
        "value": "Authored with contributors from MetaMask, the Ethereum Foundation, Google, and Coinbase",
        "source": "https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-8004"
      }
    ],
    "relationships": [
      {
        "predicate": "provides_identity_for",
        "target": "a2a",
        "note": "ERC-8004 -provides_identity_for-> A2A (research §2 seed triple): it adds the verifiable identity/reputation/validation trust layer to A2A's communication."
      },
      {
        "predicate": "complements",
        "target": "web-bot-auth",
        "note": "Both establish agent identity/trust; ERC-8004 is on-chain (decentralized registries), Web Bot Auth is off-chain (HTTP message signatures)."
      }
    ],
    "ideal_use_case": "Giving cross-organization agents a portable, on-chain identity and reputation so they can be trusted without prior relationships.",
    "when_to_use": "When agents must transact/collaborate across trust boundaries and you want decentralized, verifiable identity, reputation, and validation on-chain.",
    "when_not_to_use": "When an off-chain signature (Web Bot Auth) or a vendor directory is sufficient, or you cannot use on-chain infrastructure.",
    "code_example": "// ERC-8004 Identity Registry (schematic Solidity interface)\ninterface IIdentityRegistry {\n  function registerAgent(string calldata agentDomain, address agentAddress) external returns (uint256 agentId);\n  function resolveByAddress(address agentAddress) external view returns (uint256 agentId);\n}",
    "source": "Canonical EIP (Status: Draft; Created 2025-08-13; three registries Identity/Reputation/Validation; complements A2A and MCP): https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-8004 . Authors: Marco De Rossi, Davide Crapis, Jordan Ellis, Erik Reppel. Seed triple (ERC-8004 provides identity for A2A): research §2.",
    "agent_readiness_link": "agent-readiness/web-bot-auth"
  }
}