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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about the Agent Definition Language. For the complete normative text, see the specification or fetch /llms-full.txt.

What is the Agent Definition Language (ADL)?

ADL is an open standard that describes an AI agent’s identity, permissions, lifecycle, compliance posture, and governance in a single auditable, machine-readable document — an "agent passport." It is vendor-neutral and portable across providers and runtimes.

How can an AI agent read the full ADL specification?

The complete specification is available as clean markdown at https://adl-spec.org/llms-full.txt, as an llms.txt index at https://adl-spec.org/llms.txt, and as an Open Knowledge Format (OKF) bundle at https://adl-spec.org/okf/index.md. Every documentation page is also served as plain markdown.

What compliance frameworks does ADL map to?

ADL maps agents to NIST 800-53, SOC 2, ISO 27001, and EU AI Act controls, and supports data classification with sensitivity levels and categories such as PII and financial data.

Is ADL interoperable with A2A and MCP?

Yes. ADL documents can be converted to A2A Agent Cards and MCP server configurations, and the project documents interoperability with existing standards including A2A, MCP, and OpenAPI.