# Agent Name Service v2 (ANS) vs DNS-Based Agent Naming (DAN)

The map lists them as complementary: sites and agents commonly implement both. They answer different questions: Agent Name Service v2 (ANS) is a step 2 (Identify) standard, DNS-Based Agent Naming step 1 (Discover), so they are not substitutes.

[2 Identify](/category/identify/) [Agent Name Service v2 (ANS)](/protocols/ans/) · [1 Discover](/category/discover/) [DNS-Based Agent Naming](/protocols/dan/)

|  | [Agent Name Service v2 (ANS)](/protocols/ans/) ANS | [DNS-Based Agent Naming](/protocols/dan/) DAN |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lifecycle step | 2 Identify: Who is this agent? Who is this site? | 1 Discover: What is here, and where? |
| Answers | What domain-anchored identity belongs to an autonomous agent, and at what assurance tier can that identity be trusted? | Given a domain, which AI agents does it publish, and how can I locate and cryptographically bind to their service endpoint using DNS alone? |
| Governed by | IETF Independent Submission (individual draft; not sponsored by a chartered WG); replaces the authors' earlier draft-narajala-ans | IETF Independent Submission (individual draft; not sponsored by a chartered working group; 'dawn' in the draft filename is a keyword, not a working-group name) |
| Status (issuer's words) | Expired Internet-Draft (expired 2026-10-15) | Active Internet-Draft (individual, -00), Intended status: Standards Track; IESG state 'I-D Exists'; expires 7 December 2026 |
| Version | draft-narajala-courtney-ansv2-01, last updated 2026-04-15 (replaces draft-narajala-ans, first published 2025-05); expired 2026-10-15 (2026-04-15) | draft-seethiraju-dawn-dan-00, 5 June 2026 (single published version; no -01 as of 2026-09-07) (2026-06-05) |
| Form / transport | DNS record | DNS record |
| Found at | none | _agents.<domain> (AIINDEX, TYPE65502); <agent-name>._agents.<domain> (AIDISCA, TYPE65501) |
| Implementation | none found | prototype |
| Evidence | 2 verified, 1 reported | 3 verified |
| Primary use case | Prove an agent's identity | Name and resolve agents |
| Last verified | 2026-10-23 (current) | 2026-10-23 (current) |
| Specification | [https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-narajala-courtney-ansv2/](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-narajala-courtney-ansv2/) | [https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-seethiraju-dawn-dan/](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-seethiraju-dawn-dan/) |

## When to use which

- Choose Agent Name Service v2 (ANS) when your question is “What domain-anchored identity belongs to an autonomous agent, and at what assurance tier can that identity be trusted?” and you accept its maturity: status "Expired Internet-Draft (expired 2026-10-15)", implementation none found. It is no longer maintained; prefer its successor.
- Choose DNS-Based Agent Naming when your question is “Given a domain, which AI agents does it publish, and how can I locate and cryptographically bind to their service endpoint using DNS alone?” and you accept its maturity: status "Active Internet-Draft (individual, -00), Intended status: Standards Track; IESG state 'I-D Exists'; expires 7 December 2026", implementation prototype.

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

## Read the full articles

- [Agent Name Service v2 (ANS)](/protocols/ans/): What domain-anchored identity belongs to an autonomous agent, and at what assurance tier can that identity be trusted?
- [DNS-Based Agent Naming](/protocols/dan/): Given a domain, which AI agents does it publish, and how can I locate and cryptographically bind to their service endpoint using DNS alone?

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

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