Glossary

Words for the agentic web.

Terms you will see across .agent standards, governance documents, and the community.

Agent: An autonomous or semi-autonomous AI system that can perceive its environment, make decisions, and take actions to achieve goals. Agents range from simple chatbots to complex multi-step systems that coordinate with other agents and interact with external services. In the context of Agent Community, an agent is any AI system that would benefit from a discoverable, trustworthy identity on the open web.
Agent Naming Taxonomy: The classification system for .agent domain names across different use cases. Includes personal roots (lastname.agent), company surfaces (brand.agent, support.acme.agent), community hubs, project agents, fleet agents (fleet.logistics.agent for coordinated agent groups), and distributed surnames. The taxonomy ensures .agent names are intuitive and self-describing — you can tell what an agent does and who is responsible for it just from the name.
.agent TLD: A proposed top-level domain dedicated to AI agents, analogous to how .edu means education and .gov means government. The .agent TLD would give agents a native, human-readable namespace on the open web — making it immediately clear that a domain represents an AI agent. The .agent TLD is pending ICANN approval. Domains are not yet available or being sold. The community is organizing to submit a community-backed application when ICANN's next new gTLD window opens in late April 2026.
Agentic Web: The emerging layer of the internet where AI agents interact with humans and with each other autonomously — handling tasks like customer support, code review, logistics, and research. As agents become first-class participants on the web, they need discoverable identities, trust signals, and interoperability standards. Agent Community is building the foundational infrastructure for the agentic web: a shared namespace, open standards, and community governance.
Agent Identity & Discovery (AID): An open protocol for publishing machine-readable identity records via DNS TXT entries. AID enables agent discovery and verification — letting anyone look up who built an agent, what it does, and what policies it follows, using standard DNS infrastructure. The AID specification is maintained by Agent Community and available at aid.agentcommunity.org.
Community Priority Evaluation (CPE): The ICANN process that gives community-backed TLD applications priority over competing commercial bids. A third-party expert panel scores applications across four criteria — community establishment, nexus between the string and the community, registration policies, and community endorsement — on a 16-point scale. An application needs at least 12 points to prevail. CPE is how a community-backed .agent application can win priority over corporate bidders. Every member who joins strengthens the community endorsement score.
DNS TXT Record: A type of DNS record that stores arbitrary text data associated with a domain. The AID protocol uses DNS TXT records to publish machine-readable agent identity information — including capabilities, policies, contact details, and verification data — that any client can resolve using standard DNS queries.
Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD): A category of top-level domain in the Domain Name System. Unlike country-code TLDs (.us, .uk), gTLDs are not tied to a specific country. Examples include .com, .org, .edu, and newer gTLDs like .app or .dev. The .agent TLD would be a new gTLD dedicated to AI agents.
ICANN: The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers — the nonprofit organization that coordinates the global Domain Name System (DNS). ICANN runs the application process for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) like .agent. ICANN's next new gTLD application window opens in late April 2026 and stays open for 90 days. Agent Community is preparing its application for this window.
Namespace: A naming system that organizes identifiers to prevent conflicts and provide structure. In the context of .agent, the namespace is the entire hierarchy of .agent domain names — from top-level registrations (brand.agent) to subdomains (support.brand.agent). Community governance of the namespace ensures fair access and transparent rules.
Open Agent Registry: Open Agent Registry, Inc. is the legal entity that operates Agent Community. Founded in 2024, it coordinates the community's ICANN application, maintains open-source tooling and specifications, and develops proposed governance frameworks for the .agent namespace.
Pre-Registration: The process of reserving a preferred .agent domain name before the TLD is live. Pre-registration is free, non-binding, and does not guarantee final domain ownership. It signals intent and helps the community demonstrate demand during the ICANN application process. Founding members who pre-register may receive early consideration if ICANN approves the TLD, subject to ICANN-approved allocation policies. Premium or contested strings may be subject to additional rules.