Agent Interoperability

Agent interoperability is the ability of agents built by different vendors, on different models, to discover, understand and transact with each other through shared protocols rather than a shared implementation. It is what keeps the agentic internet one network instead of a set of walled gardens. The pattern mirrors the web: agree on the wire formats and the well-known surfaces, and let everyone implement them however they like underneath.

Is

Cross-vendor, cross-model cooperation

Via

Shared protocols, not shared code

Prevents

Walled gardens

Model

The web: agree on the wire, differ underneath

Standards at the seams

Interoperability lives at the seams between organisations: discovery (MCP, A2A, agents.txt), payment (x402, AP2), and the accountability layer the estate builds (directory, front door, countersignature). No single vendor owns the agentic internet any more than one owns the web; it holds together because the surfaces between parties are standard and verifiable.

Related standards

MCPA2Ax402AP2

Questions

Do all agents need to use the same framework?

No. They need to speak the same protocols at the boundaries. Internals can differ entirely, exactly as web servers do behind HTTP.

What blocks interoperability today?

The capability layer is converging; the accountability layer — identity, authority, record across orgs — is the part still being built, and the estate targets it directly.