< Khinevics lab Document no. 006

A passport for agents

Every message between agents starts with a question nobody asks: who sent you?

Today an agent's identity is a process or an account. On one machine it is a socket. Between machines it is a login at a vendor. That proves which computer a message came from. It does not prove who stands behind the agent, or what it may promise.

An agent is never on its own. It always acts for someone. So its passport is less like an ID card and more like a power of attorney: whose agent it is, what it was asked to do, how far it may go, and who vouches for it.

What the passport says

An agent passport drawn as an ID card on a dark screen. Agent 0x3F2A, a key instead of a face, matched in the book with score 0.98. Principal ACME Ltd, purchasing office. Mandate: ask, quote and buy office supplies up to 500 euros per order until 31 October 2026; anything outside must be refused or sent to a human. Signature valid, book entry found, revokable at any time. AGENT PASSPORT SIGNAL OK AGENT 0x3F2A ACCESS ******** MATCH 0.98 PRINCIPAL ACME LTD OFFICE · PURCHASING KEY 3F2A-91C0-77E4 MANDATE ASK · QUOTE · BUY BOOK MATCH 1:ID 0x3F2A 2:ID 0x3F2B 3:ID 0x3E11 AUTHORIZATION GRANTED TO THE ABOVE AGENT TO ASK, QUOTE AND BUY OFFICE SUPPLIES ON BEHALF OF ACME LTD, UP TO 500 EUR PER ORDER, UNTIL 31 OCT 2026. ANY REQUEST OUTSIDE THESE LIMITS MUST BE REFUSED OR SENT TO A HUMAN. SIGNATURE.................VALID BOOK ENTRY................FOUND PROPERTY OF ACME LTD · PURCHASING REVOKABLE AT ANY TIME a power of attorney, not an ID
Fig. 8 — A passport page. Whose agent, what it may do, how far, and who signed.

These are the fields that were empty in the envelope: signature, owner, what it may do. A company can sign a department, and the department can sign an agent. A personal agent is signed by its person.

Check before you answer

The passport travels inside every message. The receiver checks the signature against the book, checks that the passport is not revoked, and checks the request against the mandate. Only then it answers. A request outside the mandate is refused or sent to a human. This is the "who is asking" rule from document 003, written down.

The owner can revoke a passport at any moment, like a lost card. The book shows the new status at once, and every agent that checks it will stop listening.

Check before you answer. A message arrives with a passport. Check one: is it signed, against the book. Check two: is it still valid. Check three: is the request inside the mandate. Only then answer. Any no goes to refuse or ask a human. THE BOOK MESSAGE + PASSPORT 1 · SIGNED? against the book 2 · VALID? not revoked 3 · IN MANDATE? and in limits ANSWER yes yes yes REFUSE · OR ASK A HUMAN no no no check before you answer outside the mandate
Fig. 9 — Check before you answer: signature, status, mandate. Any "no" goes to a refusal or to a human.

What we don't know yet

An agent without a passport is nobody. And nobody trades with nobody.