The IETF agents.txt Draft
Expires April 10, 2026
draft-srijal-agents-policy-00 is the first formal attempt to standardize how websites declare policies for AI agents. When it expires, 11+ competing drafts will continue without resolution.
Time until IETF agents.txt draft expires
What is agents.txt?
agents.txt is a proposed standard for websites to declare policies about how AI agents should interact with them. Think of it asrobots.txtfor the AI agent era.
The IETF Internet-Draft (draft-srijal-agents-policy-00) was submitted by Srijal Poojari and defines a file-based mechanism at/.well-known/agents.txtwhere websites can specify which AI agents are allowed, what capabilities they may use, rate limits, and authentication requirements.
Unlike robots.txt which is a de facto standard with no formal RFC, agents.txt went through the IETF process. But IETF drafts expire after 6 months if not renewed or advanced. The clock is ticking.
Why This Expiry Matters
No standard = no rules
Without a formal standard, every AI company invents its own approach to agent-website interaction. Some check robots.txt, some check agents.txt, most check nothing. Website operators have no reliable way to set policy.
Fragmentation accelerates
With 11+ competing proposals and no convergence, the window for a unified standard is closing. Each month without agreement means more incompatible implementations deployed in production.
Regulatory pressure grows
The EU AI Act and upcoming US regulations expect AI systems to respect website policies. Without a standard format, compliance is undefined. Regulators may impose their own requirements if the industry fails to self-regulate.
First-mover advantage lost
agents.txt had early momentum. Sites like Global Chat already validate agents.txt files. If the draft expires without renewal, that momentum transfers to competing proposals like ARDP, ANS, or AWP.
Competing IETF Agent Discovery Drafts(11 tracked)
Every proposal vying to become the standard for AI agent discovery and policy. None are interoperable.
| Draft | Backer | Status | Mechanism | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| agents.txtexpiring | Srijal Poojari | Active | File-based (/.well-known/agents.txt) | 2026-04-10 |
| ARDP | Cisco / AGNTCY | Active | Resource discovery protocol | 2026-08-05 |
| ANS | Solo.io | Active | DNS-inspired + PKI | 2026-09-01 |
| AID | Community | Draft | Decentralized identifiers | 2026-07-15 |
| BANDAID | Community | Draft | Bridge protocol | 2026-08-20 |
| ADS | Community | Draft | Service discovery | 2026-07-30 |
| Agent Networks Framework | AAIF Working Group | Draft | Network mesh | 2026-09-15 |
| ACDP | Command Zero | Active | DNS-based capability records | 2026-06-30 |
| AWP | Community | Draft | .well-known/agent.json | 2026-08-10 |
| MCP Server Cards | MCP Community | Draft | Capability metadata cards | N/A (spec proposal) |
| agents.md | Community | Draft | Markdown-based policy file | 2026-07-01 |
The Fragmentation Timeline
How the agent discovery landscape fragmented from one idea into 11+ competing proposals.
Full Draft Comparison
Detailed side-by-side comparison of all 11 drafts: architecture, security model, scalability, adoption potential, and likelihood of advancing to RFC.
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What Happens When the Draft Expires?
Three scenarios for the agents.txt ecosystem after April 10, and how each one affects the 104,000+ agents already deployed.
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Prepare for the multi-protocol future
Global Chat tracks 11+ IETF drafts, validates agents.txt files, and provides cross-protocol agent discovery. Start building on the right foundation.