# Agent Name Service (ANS): A Universal Directory for Secure AI Agent Discovery and Interoperability

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.10609 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.10609/

## Key facts

- Cited by 23 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 1 of its 21 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 15 May 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Enterprise-Grade Security for the Model Context Protocol (MCP): Frameworks and Mitigation Strategies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.08623/) (2025)

## Built on by (most cited first, 23 of 23)

- [A Novel Zero-Trust Identity Framework for Agentic AI: Decentralized Authentication and Fine-Grained Access Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.19301/) (2025)
- [A Survey of Agentic AI and Cybersecurity: Challenges, Opportunities and Use-case Prototypes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.05293/) (2026)
- [Security Analysis of Agentic AI Communication Protocols: A Comparative Evaluation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.03841/) (2025)
- [Agentic Services Computing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.24380/) (2025)
- [COALESCE: Economic and Security Dynamics of Skill-Based Task Outsourcing Among Team of Autonomous LLM Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.01900/) (2025)
- [Agent Capability Negotiation and Binding Protocol (ACNBP)](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.13590/) (2025)
- [Fortifying the Agentic Web: A Unified Zero-Trust Architecture Against Logic-layer Threats](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.12259/) (2025)
- [Distributed General-Purpose Agent Networks: Architecture, Key Mechanisms, and Prototypes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.17368/) (2026)
- [Agent Name Service (ANS): A Proof-of-Concept Trust Layer for Secure AI Agent Discovery, Identity, and Governance in Kubernetes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.26997/) (2026)
- [A Note on the Strategic Confinement Problem](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.09931/) (2026)
- [Blockchain Empowered Trustworthy Agent Networks: Foundations, Taxonomy, and Future Directions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.04626/) (2026)
- [SoulAuth: An Actor-native Identity Architecture and Rust Reference Implementation for Humans and Long-lived AI Actors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.11258/) (2026)
- [AgentHub: A Registry for Discoverable, Verifiable, and Reproducible AI Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.03495/) (2025)
- [MAIF: Enforcing AI Trust and Provenance with an Artifact-Centric Agentic Paradigm](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.15097/) (2025)
- [OpenAgenet / OAN White Paper: Open Infrastructure for Trusted Agent Interconnection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.03161/) (2026)
- [OpenAgenet / OAN Yellow Paper: Technical Architecture for Trust-Governed Resource Identity and Discovery](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.03163/) (2026)
- [AONA: A Comprehensive Architecture and Workflow Design for Global Agentic Collaboration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.20573/) (2026)
- [Clarus: Coordinating Autonomous Research Agents toward Web-Scale Scientific Collaboration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.30246/) (2026)
- [AI Tool Discovery at Scale: All You Need is DNS](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.18242/) (2026)
- [InterSAGE: The Secure and Verifiable Interoperability Protocol for An Internet of Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.13030/) (2026)
- [TessIndex: Capability Verified Identity System for the Agent Economy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.21942/) (2026)
- [A Scalable Trust Discovery Architecture for the Internet of Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.20095/) (2026)
- [Who is the 'I' in AI? Establishing Decentralized Identity and Accountability for Autonomous Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.17126/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The proliferation of AI agents requires robust mechanisms for secure discovery. This paper introduces the Agent Name Service (ANS), a novel architecture based on DNS addressing the lack of a public agent discovery framework. ANS provides a protocol-agnostic registry infrastructure that leverages Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) certificates for verifiable agent identity and trust. The architecture features several key innovations: a formalized agent registration and renewal mechanism for lifecycle management; DNS-inspired naming conventions with capability-aware resolution; a modular Protocol Adapter Layer supporting diverse communication standards (A2A, MCP, ACP etc.); and precisely defined algorithms for secure resolution. We implement structured communication using JSON Schema and conduct a comprehensive threat analysis of our proposal. The result is a foundational directory service addressing the core challenges of secured discovery and interaction in multi-agent systems, paving the way for future interoperable, trustworthy, and scalable agent ecosystems.