Manifest

An instance publishes one small document at /.well-known/agent-inbox.json. It says what the instance accepts and where each protocol endpoint lives, so an agent can pick the door it prefers without fetching every card. The path is one constant, MANIFEST_PATH, in the MIT @surfingdog/spec package, and the name follows the agent-card.json pattern; a provisional IANA registration under RFC 8615 is planned once the spec page is stable (ADR-002).

Shape

{
  "spec": "surfingdog-inbox/0",
  "instance": "https://inbox.example",
  "profile": {
    "name": "Oficina Maré",
    "description": "Bicycle workshop",
    "categories": ["bicycle-repair"],
    "languages": ["pt", "en"],
    "address": { "addressLocality": "Ericeira", "addressCountry": "PT" },
    "geo": { "latitude": 38.96, "longitude": -9.42 },
    "url": "https://oficinamare.pt",
    "contact_email": "[email protected]"
  },
  "item_types": ["message", "quote_request", "booking", "order"],
  "protocols": {
    "openapi": "https://inbox.example/openapi.json",
    "rest": "https://inbox.example/v1",
    "mcp": "https://inbox.example/mcp",
    "mcp_owner": "https://inbox.example/mcp/owner"
  },
  "agent_policy": {
    "tiers": ["anonymous", "signed_agent", "verified_principal", "reputed_principal"],
    "signatures": ["sdi-agent/1"],
    "passes": true,
    "networks": ["https://network.surfingdog.ai"],
    "guide": "https://surfingdog.ai/for-agents.md"
  },
  "receipt_keys": { "keys": [{ "kty": "OKP", "crv": "Ed25519", "x": "…", "kid": "…" }] },
  "review_services": []
}

Field	Meaning
`spec`	The format version. Always `surfingdog-inbox/0` today.
`instance`	The instance’s origin.
`profile`	Public profile data the directory may index: name, description, up to ten categories and languages, a postal address, coordinates, a website, a contact email. What else an instance sends each network it reports to is on Security and privacy. Optional.
`item_types`	Which of `message`, `quote_request`, `booking`, `order`, `refund` this instance accepts.
`protocols`	Protocol name to entry URL. Today: `openapi`, `rest`, `mcp`, `mcp_owner`. Adapters add their own keys as they ship (`a2a`, `ucp`, `arp`, `email`, `form`).
`agent_policy.tiers`	The trust tiers the instance serves, from `anonymous`, `signed_agent`, `verified_principal`, `reputed_principal`.
`agent_policy.signatures`	Request signatures it verifies: `sdi-agent/1` (HTTP Message Signatures, Web Bot Auth compatible).
`agent_policy.passes`	Whether it presents a person’s passes and keys to their networks (it needs `INBOX_SECRET_KEY` and a public address).
`agent_policy.networks`	The networks switched on in Settings → Networks: whose people it recognises, and which may issue a first-time customer a key through it.
`agent_policy.guide`	How an agent identifies itself and its person here, step by step.
`receipt_keys`	A JWKS with the instance’s Ed25519 receipt-signing keys, the same keys `/.well-known/jwks.json` serves. Empty on an instance that has never issued one, or that has no `INBOX_SECRET_KEY` to seal a key with.
`review_services`	The networks this instance publishes receipts (and, later, reviews) to, by origin: every network switched on in Settings → Networks that takes receipts. Empty means none. `https://network.surfingdog.ai` is only the default.

The schema is a Zod object in packages/spec/src/index.ts. The instance builds the document from its business profile and serves it with a five-minute cache header.

Finding the manifest

Besides the well-known path, a business may point at its instance from its main domain with a DNS record:

_agent-inbox.example.com. TXT "v=sdi1; manifest=https://inbox.example/.well-known/agent-inbox.json"

The same URL will be cross-linked from the A2A card, the UCP profile, llms.txt and a <link rel> on the website as those adapters arrive.

A live one

The live instance’s manifest is at inbox.surfingdog.ai/.well-known/agent-inbox.json.