Category
Agent Identity
How AI agents prove who they are: authentication, authorization, attestation, credentials, and the non-human identities behind them.
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Terms in this category 7
Agent AttestationAgent attestation is a process that cryptographically proves an AI agent’s identity and integrity — the agent is who it says it is, does what it says it does, and hasn’t been modified. Before an agent can access services, databases, or other sensitive resources, an attestation mechanism (such as a SPIRE agent) reviews its code, model, and execution environment to confirm authorization. Attestation may also include the agent’s platform, software, and hardware.
Agent AuthorizationAI agent authorization is the security process that determines what an AI agent may do after authentication. It decides which tools the agent can call, which data it may read or write and which services it has access to. These decisions are enforced by policies operating independently of the agent and apply to every agent action.
Agent Credential ProvisioningAgent credential provisioning is the process of scoping and issuing cryptographic credentials to verified AI agents at runtime. These time-bound, task-specific and traceable credentials let agents authenticate to necessary resources, including APIs and other agents. The SPIFFE runtime environment (SPIRE) automates agent credential provisioning, active revocation and traceability.
Agent ObservabilityAI agent observability is the capture and analysis of every decision made, and every action taken, by agentic AI. This comprehensive practice offers complete visibility into agent reasoning, tool calls, data retrieval and model outputs. Agent observability matters because it reveals whether agents have made logical, safe choices within authorized bounds. If misbehavior occurs, organizations can detect it, take corrective action and determine the reasoning to prevent recurrence.
Agent to Agent Protocol (A2A)The Agent2Agent (A2A) Protocol is an open standard that allows AI agents to authenticate and communicate securely across platforms and frameworks. A2A doesn’t require agents to reveal their internal logic, which makes it ideal for secure collaboration in multi-agent systems. In 2025, Google developed the standard and donated it to the Linux Foundation.
AI Agent IdentityAgent identity, or AI agent identity, is a digital identity assigned to an AI agent. The identity is unique, verifiable, and distinct from human users or static service accounts.
Non-Human IdentityA non-human identity (NHI) is a unique descriptor assigned to a technological system, such as a machine, application or AI agent, for authentication and authorization.
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