{
 "id": "acip",
 "name": "Agent Context Interchange Protocol",
 "acronym": "ACIP",
 "aliases": [
  "draft-agarwal-acip"
 ],
 "collisions": [],
 "step": "permit",
 "parties": [
  "agent-human"
 ],
 "form": "document-format",
 "track": "ietf",
 "scope": "coding-tools",
 "question": "How can a coding-agent host resolve organization, project, task, user, and vendor instruction sources into one deterministic set of rules with defined precedence, path scoping, enforceability, and an audit receipt?",
 "analog": "AGENTS.md with a structured YAML schema, precedence algorithm, and resolution receipt",
 "origin": {
  "org": "S. Agarwal (individual IETF Internet-Draft submission)",
  "date": "2026-10-12"
 },
 "governance": "Individual Internet-Draft, Network Working Group; not adopted by an IETF working group",
 "native_status": "Internet-Draft, Intended Status: Informational; expires 15 April 2027; work in progress",
 "phase": "draft",
 "implementation": "unknown",
 "adoption": {
  "level": "unmeasured",
  "by": null,
  "probe_run": null
 },
 "version": {
  "label": "draft-agarwal-acip-00",
  "date": "2026-10-12"
 },
 "spec_url": "https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-agarwal-acip-00",
 "discovery": {
  "mechanism": "Fixed repository path (.agents/agent-context.yaml and .agents/policies/) plus a user-level config path; organization policy via a host-specific managed channel",
  "path": ".agents/agent-context.yaml"
 },
 "probe": {
  "method": "GET",
  "path": ".agents/agent-context.yaml",
  "parse": "Parse as a single YAML 1.2 document and check that it validates against the ACIP top-level members. Only applies to public repositories; file is in the repository, not the site root.",
  "on_absent": "Treat ACIP as not supported by that repository"
 },
 "evidence": [
  {
   "claim": "Internet-Draft defines ACIP, a YAML-based format and host-resolution behavior for coding-agent context sources, with source precedence, file matching, constraint/directive/preference distinctions, and a resolution receipt.",
   "label": "REPORTED",
   "url": "https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-agarwal-acip-00",
   "date": "2026-10-12"
  }
 ],
 "summary_md": "ACIP is an individual Internet-Draft (Informational) defining a YAML policy file, `agent-context.yaml`, and a host resolution procedure for persistent instructions given to coding agents. It ranks organization, project, task, user, and vendor sources by host-determined provenance and applies path-scoped rules. It separates enforceable constraints from textual directives and preferences, and it defines a resolution receipt. It also specifies compatibility with AGENTS.md and Agent Skills, plus migration profiles for tools without native support. It states that natural-language instructions cannot force behavior and that enforcement requires a host control at the action boundary.",
 "part_of": null,
 "group": null,
 "candidate": true,
 "confidence": 0.8,
 "use_cases": [
  "let-agents-act-on-my-site",
  "audit-agent-actions",
  "describe-agent-capabilities"
 ],
 "audience": [
  "agent-builder",
  "platform",
  "standards-body"
 ],
 "pairs_with": [
  "agents-md",
  "anthropic-agent-skills-format",
  "mcp"
 ],
 "prerequisites": [],
 "dispute": null,
 "last_verified": "2026-10-18",
 "history": [
  {
   "date": "2026-10-16",
   "note": "auto-drafted candidate from exa (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-agarwal-acip-00)"
  }
 ],
 "watch": [
  {
   "type": "page",
   "url": "https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-agarwal-acip-00"
  }
 ],
 "freshness": "current",
 "url": "https://agenticweb.wiki/protocols/acip/",
 "category": "permit",
 "type": "protocol"
}