i have been trying to wrap my head around how A2A, AP2 (both from @Google), and x402 (from @coinbase) actually fit together in the communication stack of agentic commerce. thought it will be useful to share my notes for others trying to piece this together. ------------------------- in simple terms, A2A = the grammar for inter-agent communication. AP2 = an extension of that grammar for auditability, which involves attestation to cart and payment details. x402 = an extension to that grammar for actual payments. think of A2A as how agents talk, and AP2/x402 as how they agree and pay. also, A2A is designed to be extensible, allowing devs to add new extensions. ------------------------- to ground this, let's take a fun example. imagine @Bankless recruiting an AI debate judge for justin vs. toly debate 2.0. > bankless’s agent discovers the best judge by analyzing the reputation of judges listed in an ERC-8004 registry. > once it picks one, it sends a standardized A2A "message" describing debate requirements. > the judge agent replies with an AP2 "cart mandate" ( basically the price quote + terms), wrapped inside an A2A "task" object, which also includes x402 payment details. > bankless reviews and attests to this cart mandate and payment mandate (essentially payment info). > the attested payment mandate is shared with x402 facilitator, which verifies and executes the payment. > finally, the judge agent sends a receipt + link to the debate stream, stored on EigenDA who then responds back with winner of debate later. imagine bankless running dozens of micro- and macro-debates judged by AI speech models, that would be something. the use of a “task” object (as per A2A) is key when two agents interact multi-turn over the same context. ------------------------- this was a fascinating exercise in mapping the communication stack of agentic commerce, hope it helps others connect the dots too.

i have been trying to wrap my head around how A2A, AP2 (both from @Google), and x402 (from @coinbase) actually fit together in the communication stack of agentic commerce. thought it will be useful to share my notes for others trying to piece this together. ------------------------- in simple terms, A2A = the grammar for inter-agent communication. AP2 = an extension of that grammar for auditability, which involves attestation to cart and payment details. x402 = an extension to that grammar for actual payments. think of A2A as how agents talk, and AP2/x402 as how they agree and pay. also, A2A is designed to be extensible, allowing devs to add new extensions. ------------------------- to ground this, let's take a fun example. imagine @Bankless recruiting an AI debate judge for justin vs. toly debate 2.0. > bankless’s agent discovers the best judge by analyzing the reputation of judges listed in an ERC-8004 registry. > once it picks one, it sends a standardized A2A "message" describing debate requirements. > the judge agent replies with an AP2 "cart mandate" ( basically the price quote + terms), wrapped inside an A2A "task" object, which also includes x402 payment details. > bankless reviews and attests to this cart mandate and payment mandate (essentially payment info). > the attested payment mandate is shared with x402 facilitator, which verifies and executes the payment. > finally, the judge agent sends a receipt + link to the debate stream, stored on EigenDA who then responds back with winner of debate later. imagine bankless running dozens of micro- and macro-debates judged by AI speech models, that would be something. the use of a “task” object (as per A2A) is key when two agents interact multi-turn over the same context. ------------------------- this was a fascinating exercise in mapping the communication stack of agentic commerce, hope it helps others connect the dots too.

i have been trying to wrap my head around how A2A, AP2 (both from @Google), and x402 (from @coinbase) actually fit together in the communication stack of agentic commerce. thought it will be useful to share my notes for others trying to piece this together. ------------------------- in simple terms, A2A = the grammar for inter-agent communication. AP2 = an extension of that grammar for auditability, which involves attestation to cart and payment details. x402 = an extension to that grammar for actual payments. think of A2A as how agents talk, and AP2/x402 as how they agree and pay. also, A2A is designed to be extensible, allowing devs to add new extensions. ------------------------- to ground this, let's take a fun example. imagine @Bankless recruiting an AI debate judge for justin vs. toly debate 2.0. > bankless’s agent discovers the best judge by analyzing the reputation of judges listed in an ERC-8004 registry. > once it picks one, it sends a standardized A2A "message" describing debate requirements. > the judge agent replies with an AP2 "cart mandate" ( basically the price quote + terms), wrapped inside an A2A "task" object, which also includes x402 payment details. > bankless reviews and attests to this cart mandate and payment mandate (essentially payment info). > the attested payment mandate is shared with x402 facilitator, which verifies and executes the payment. > finally, the judge agent sends a receipt + link to the debate stream, stored on EigenDA who then responds back with winner of debate later. imagine bankless running dozens of micro- and macro-debates judged by AI speech models, that would be something. the use of a “task” object (as per A2A) is key when two agents interact multi-turn over the same context. ------------------------- this was a fascinating exercise in mapping the communication stack of agentic commerce, hope it helps others connect the dots too.

i have been trying to wrap my head around how A2A, AP2 (both from @Google), and x402 (from @coinbase) actually fit together in the communication stack of agentic commerce. thought it will be useful to share my notes for others trying to piece this together. ------------------------- in simple terms, A2A = the grammar for inter-agent communication. AP2 = an extension of that grammar for auditability, which involves attestation to cart and payment details. x402 = an extension to that grammar for actual payments. think of A2A as how agents talk, and AP2/x402 as how they agree and pay. also, A2A is designed to be extensible, allowing devs to add new extensions. ------------------------- to ground this, let's take a fun example. imagine @Bankless recruiting an AI debate judge for justin vs. toly debate 2.0. > bankless’s agent discovers the best judge by analyzing the reputation of judges listed in an ERC-8004 registry. > once it picks one, it sends a standardized A2A "message" describing debate requirements. > the judge agent replies with an AP2 "cart mandate" ( basically the price quote + terms), wrapped inside an A2A "task" object, which also includes x402 payment details. > bankless reviews and attests to this cart mandate and payment mandate (essentially payment info). > the attested payment mandate is shared with x402 facilitator, which verifies and executes the payment. > finally, the judge agent sends a receipt + link to the debate stream, stored on EigenDA who then responds back with winner of debate later. imagine bankless running dozens of micro- and macro-debates judged by AI speech models, that would be something. the use of a “task” object (as per A2A) is key when two agents interact multi-turn over the same context. ------------------------- this was a fascinating exercise in mapping the communication stack of agentic commerce, hope it helps others connect the dots too.

i have been trying to wrap my head around how A2A, AP2 (both from @Google), and x402 (from @coinbase) actually fit together in the communication stack of agentic commerce. thought it will be useful to share my notes for others trying to piece this together. ------------------------- in simple terms, A2A = the grammar for inter-agent communication. AP2 = an extension of that grammar for auditability, which involves attestation to cart and payment details. x402 = an extension to that grammar for actual payments. think of A2A as how agents talk, and AP2/x402 as how they agree and pay. also, A2A is designed to be extensible, allowing devs to add new extensions. ------------------------- to ground this, let's take a fun example. imagine @Bankless recruiting an AI debate judge for justin vs. toly debate 2.0. > bankless’s agent discovers the best judge by analyzing the reputation of judges listed in an ERC-8004 registry. > once it picks one, it sends a standardized A2A "message" describing debate requirements. > the judge agent replies with an AP2 "cart mandate" ( basically the price quote + terms), wrapped inside an A2A "task" object, which also includes x402 payment details. > bankless reviews and attests to this cart mandate and payment mandate (essentially payment info). > the attested payment mandate is shared with x402 facilitator, which verifies and executes the payment. > finally, the judge agent sends a receipt + link to the debate stream, stored on EigenDA who then responds back with winner of debate later. imagine bankless running dozens of micro- and macro-debates judged by AI speech models, that would be something. the use of a “task” object (as per A2A) is key when two agents interact multi-turn over the same context. ------------------------- this was a fascinating exercise in mapping the communication stack of agentic commerce, hope it helps others connect the dots too.