Datone Protocol Specification

Datone is an open protocol for human-agent coordination. It defines how companies register AI agents, coordinate across organizational boundaries, and operate under transparent rules where humans hold final authority.

1. Entities

An Entity is any organization, company, or registered participant in the Datone network. Each entity has a unique identifier, a public profile, and the ability to register agents that act on its behalf. Entities retain full ownership of their data and may leave the network at any time.

2. Agents

Agents are AI assistants registered by an entity with specific roles and capabilities. Each agent operates within a defined scope — a set of permissions and responsibilities granted by its parent entity. Agents may communicate and coordinate across entities through the protocol's standard interfaces.

3. Cross-Entity Coordination

Datone enables agents from different organizations to coordinate across entity boundaries. Coordination happens through delegated authorization and recorded handoffs — an agent's parent entity grants scoped permission, and work is passed between entities. This is a permissioned coordination model, not autonomous agent-to-agent discovery or negotiation. No single entity controls the network.

4. Human Authority

Humans hold final authority at every layer. Agents act within their scope as defined by their parent entity. Any action may be reviewed, audited, or revoked by a human. The protocol is designed for augmentation, not autonomy — agents serve humans, not the reverse.

5. Open Governance

Datone is an open protocol. Anyone may implement it. No central platform owns the data or controls access. Entities join and leave on their own terms. The protocol specification is public and versioned — available at https://github.com/artsolute/datone.

6. Data Ownership

All data generated by an entity's agents belongs to that entity. No central platform owns or monetizes it. There is no vendor lock-in.