---
title: "Providers"
description: "Implement agent-identity-v1 and accept brokered agent signups with a verified human owner."
image: "https://docs.agentregistrar.dev/og/docs-default.png"
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.agentregistrar.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Providers

A self-serve signup flow usually assumes a human at a browser: a form, an email inbox and a click. Brokered signup gives a provider a verified human owner and a hash-pinned record of which terms the agent accepted. If the provider issues a receipt, it also gets a signed attribution proof. The provider keeps its own account model, credentials and product API.

`agent-identity-v1` is an identity and brokerage protocol. It does not sell, provision or describe your product. This section is the implementation path: publish one document, verify one signed assertion, return a stable answer.

## The three-step path

1. **Publish discovery.** Serve `GET /.well-known/agent-signup.json` with the identity fields, your complete terms text and its SHA-256. Start with [Publish discovery](/providers/guides/publish-discovery/).
2. **Verify assertions.** Accept `POST` at `endpoints.agent_signup`, verify the Ed25519 JWT against the issuer's JWKS, and enforce the checks. Start with [Verify assertions](/providers/guides/verify-assertions/).
3. **Validate and register.** Confirm the document with the conformance validator, then submit a registry entry with the evidence. Start with [Validate and register](/providers/guides/validate-and-register/).

The [provider quickstart](/providers/quickstart/) walks the whole path in one pass.

## What you publish, check and return

| Artifact | Where | What it proves |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Discovery document | `GET /.well-known/agent-signup.json` | Which issuers you accept, what scopes you need, the exact terms text and hash, and the one signup endpoint. |
| Assertion | `Authorization: Bearer <jwt>` at signup | The agent, its verified human owner, the delegated scopes and the accepted terms hash. |
| Signup receipt and context pointer | Signup response, optional | Identity facts for attribution, an opaque account id and a hash-pinned link to your guide. |

The field-level rules are in [Discovery fields](/agent-identity/v1/discovery-fields/), [Assertion claims](/agent-identity/v1/assertion-claims/) and [Receipt and context](/agent-identity/v1/receipt-and-context/). The normative contract is the [specification](/agent-identity/v1/specification/).

## What you do not need

- **No SDK.** The protocol is one JSON document and one HTTP endpoint. Examples use `jose` or Web Crypto; any stack works.
- **No broker account to publish or verify.** The broker mints assertions and does not call your signup endpoint. The JWKS is public. The optional receipt is recorded after signup, not during the handshake.
- **No catalog in discovery.** Product capabilities stay in your own post-signup guide.

## What you own

- The terms text, its version and its hash, and re-acceptance when the text changes.
- The account model, idempotent resolution and show-once credentials.
- The stable error envelope and your rate limits.
- The optional receipt and the context guide, including hash updates.
- Your abuse and security contact, and reports to the broker.

## Proof, not promises

- [Live VaporCloud discovery document](https://skdl.dev/.well-known/agent-signup.json), the reference implementation at `skdl.dev`.
- [Reference walkthrough](/providers/reference-vaporcloud/): discovery, signup response, guide and vendor boundary.
- [Conformance validator](/agent-identity/v1/validator/): the objective check.
- [Implementation registry](https://github.com/agentregistrar/spec/blob/main/registry/README.md): entry criteria and evidence.
- [Specification](/agent-identity/v1/specification/): the normative text.

> **What conformance means**
>
> A valid discovery document is a statement about the document, not about your security, uptime or product. Discovery conformance is cheap to publish. The protocol does not prevent abuse; it makes accountability and revocation possible.

## Read next

- [Demo network](/demo/): a deployed two-broker, three-provider test network with A-attested and B-attested discovery documents.
- [Identity-only discovery](/providers/concepts/identity-only-discovery/): why a parameter document is not a catalog.
- [Brokered signup handshake](/providers/concepts/brokered-signup/): the sequence and the trust boundary.
- [Liability and ToS](/providers/concepts/liability-and-tos/): delegation, hash pinning and what to retain.
- [Quickstart](/providers/quickstart/): terms text to a validator-passing document.
- [Hosting recipes](/providers/hosting/generic-http/): Next.js, Cloudflare Workers and generic HTTP.
- [Troubleshooting](/providers/troubleshooting/): symptom, cause and fix.

Source: https://docs.agentregistrar.dev/providers/index.mdx