# Agent Identity and Discovery vs DNS for AI Discovery

The map lists them as complementary: sites and agents commonly implement both.

[1 Discover](/category/discover/) [Agent Identity and Discovery](/protocols/aid/) · [1 Discover](/category/discover/) [DNS for AI Discovery](/protocols/dns-aid/)

|  | [Agent Identity and Discovery](/protocols/aid/) AID | [DNS for AI Discovery](/protocols/dns-aid/) DNS-AID |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lifecycle step | 1 Discover: What is here, and where? | 1 Discover: What is here, and where? |
| Answers | Given a domain, where is the agent and which protocol should I speak, with cryptographic proof the endpoint controls the matching key? | Given a domain, where is its agent endpoint, what protocol does it speak, and how can that be verified via DNSSEC/DANE? |
| Governed by | Agent Community open-source project; editor listed as 'Agent Community'; no formal standards body, though the spec discusses composing with IETF-track work (RFC 9421, RFC 7638, RFC 9728, RFC 8414) | IETF dnsop working group Internet-Draft (individual submission track, not yet WG-adopted) |
| Status (issuer's words) | Current normative specification | Internet-Draft, Standards Track intended status |
| Phase | living | draft |
| Version | v2.1.0 (aid2 wire format; aid1 legacy) (2026-06-01) | draft-mozleywilliams-dnsop-dnsaid-02 (2026-05-27) |
| Form / transport | DNS record | DNS record |
| Found at | _agent.<domain> (DNS TXT); /.well-known/agent (HTTP fallback) | _index._agents.<domain> (SVCB); _agent-name.<domain> (SVCB) |
| Adoption | observed | claimed — Infoblox and GoDaddy joint press release |
| Evidence | 3 verified | 2 verified, 1 reported |
| Primary use case | Let agents discover my API or service | Let agents discover my API or service |
| Last verified | 2026-10-19 (current) | 2026-10-18 (current) |
| Specification | [https://raw.githubusercontent.com/agentcommunity/agent-identity-discovery/main/packages/docs/specification.md](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/agentcommunity/agent-identity-discovery/main/packages/docs/specification.md) | [https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-mozleywilliams-dnsop-dnsaid/](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-mozleywilliams-dnsop-dnsaid/) |

## When to use which

- Choose Agent Identity and Discovery when your question is “Given a domain, where is the agent and which protocol should I speak, with cryptographic proof the endpoint controls the matching key?” and you accept its maturity: phase living, adoption observed.
- Choose DNS for AI Discovery when your question is “Given a domain, where is its agent endpoint, what protocol does it speak, and how can that be verified via DNSSEC/DANE?” and you accept its maturity: phase draft, adoption claimed (Infoblox and GoDaddy joint press release).

Guidance is derived from the two records (question, phase, adoption, prerequisites, pairings), not from opinion. Each record's page carries its numbered references.

## Read the full articles

- [Agent Identity and Discovery](/protocols/aid/): Given a domain, where is the agent and which protocol should I speak, with cryptographic proof the endpoint controls the matching key?
- [DNS for AI Discovery](/protocols/dns-aid/): Given a domain, where is its agent endpoint, what protocol does it speak, and how can that be verified via DNSSEC/DANE?

Ask the MCP server to compare any two: the compare-protocols prompt, or get on both ids. [Connect](/connect/).

[aid.json](/data/protocols/aid.json) · [dns-aid.json](/data/protocols/dns-aid.json) · [Markdown](/compare/aid-vs-dns-aid/index.md)