DNS-AID

Lets organizations publish and discover AI agents through standard DNS records — a naming convention over SVCB/TXT/TLSA records, signed with DNSSEC, with no new record types or servers.

name
DNS-AID
full_name
DNS-based Agent Identification and Discovery
layer
discovery
creator
IETF draft (draft-mozleywilliams-dnsop-dnsaid), community reference implementation
status
draft (IETF Internet-Draft)
year
2025
one_liner
Lets organizations publish and discover AI agents through standard DNS records — a naming convention over SVCB/TXT/TLSA records, signed with DNSSEC, with no new record types or servers.
spec_url
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-mozleywilliams-dnsop-dnsaid/
snippet
_agent._tcp.example.com  IN SVCB ...   → DNS-SD discovery of an org's agent index (DNSSEC-signed)
abbreviation
DNS-AID
also_known_as
DNS for AI Discovery DNS-based Agent Identification and Discovery BANDAID (IETF work)
canonical_spec_url
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-mozleywilliams-dnsop-dnsaid-02
entity_uri
https://dns-aid.org/
taxonomy_layer
discovery
sub_layer
dns-agent-discovery
protocol_type
declaration
central_problem
Lets organizations publish and discover AI agents through the existing DNS system instead of centralized registries — using a well-known namespace over standard records, secured by DNSSEC/DANE.
maintainer
IETF (draft-mozleywilliams-dnsop-dnsaid) + dns-aid community reference implementation
governance_body
IETF (dnsop work; Internet-Draft)
license
IETF Trust (Internet-Draft terms)
maturity_tag
experimental
current_spec_version
draft-mozleywilliams-dnsop-dnsaid-02 verify-against-primary-at-build ↗ https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-mozleywilliams-dnsop-dnsaid/
spec_date
— verify-against-primary-at-build ↗ https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-mozleywilliams-dnsop-dnsaid/
launch_date
2025 verify-against-primary-at-build ↗ https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-mozleywilliams-dnsop-dnsaid/
last_verified
2026-06-15
transport
DNS (SVCB, TXT, TLSA records; DNS-SD labels; DNSSEC/DANE for trust)
core_mechanism
DNS-AID is a naming convention layered on existing DNS records (SVCB for connectivity/metadata per RFC 9460, TXT, optional TLSA) using DNS-SD labels and a well-known entry point into an organization's agent index; all discovery records MUST be DNSSEC-signed, with DANE/TLSA for end-to-end trust. No new record types, servers, or protocols are introduced.
discovery_endpoint
Well-known DNS-SD label into an organization's agent index (DNSSEC-signed)
settlement_type
—
adoption_metric
— verify-against-primary-at-build ↗ https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-mozleywilliams-dnsop-dnsaid/
notable_adopters
{"value":"DNS-AID community reference implementation (dns-aid/dns-aid-core)","source":"https://github.com/dns-aid/dns-aid-core"}
relationships
{"predicate":"complements","target":"agents-txt","note":"DNS-AID discovers agents at the DNS layer; agents.txt/llms.txt declare them at the HTTP/file layer — complementary discovery surfaces."}
ideal_use_case
An organization that wants its AI agents discoverable and verifiable through DNS, reusing existing DNSSEC trust.
when_to_use
When you want agent discovery and trust anchored in DNS infrastructure you already operate, without new servers.
when_not_to_use
When a simple HTTP file (llms.txt/agents.txt) or an in-band Agent Card (A2A) is sufficient and you don't need DNS-level trust.
code_example
; DNS zone (DNSSEC-signed) _agents._tcp.example.com. IN PTR acme-agent._agents._tcp.example.com. acme-agent._agents._tcp.example.com. IN SVCB 1 agent.example.com. ( alpn="h2" )
source
IETF Internet-Draft (naming convention over SVCB/TXT/TLSA per RFC 9460/4033, DNS-SD, DNSSEC/DANE-signed): https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-mozleywilliams-dnsop-dnsaid-02 ; project site https://dns-aid.org/ ; reference impl https://github.com/dns-aid/dns-aid-core . Listed for addition in research §2.
agent_readiness_link
agent-readiness/discoverability
layer_legacy
content

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