The discovery layer for web apps, designed for AI agents
Open Application Protocol (OAP) is a decentralized discovery and trust layer that lets AI agents find, evaluate, and recommend applications on behalf of users.
The Discovery Gap
AI agents can execute tasks through MCP and communicate through A2A — but they have no standard way to discover which applications exist and whether they can be trusted.
“MCP connects AI to tools. A2A connects agents to each other. OAP connects both to the applications humans actually use.”
How It Works
Declare
Host a JSON manifest at /.well-known/oap.json describing your app's identity, capabilities, pricing, and trust signals.
Verify
Add a DNS TXT record at _oap.yourdomain.com to prove domain ownership. Optional but builds trust.
Discover
Register with any OAP registry. AI agents search, evaluate, and recommend your app to users.
{
"oap_version": "0.1",
"identity": {
"name": "Your App",
"tagline": "One-line description",
"description": "What your app does, for AI comprehension",
"url": "https://yourapp.com"
},
"capabilities": {
"summary": "Natural language description of what your app does...",
"categories": ["your-category"],
"solves": ["problems your app solves"]
},
"pricing": { "model": "freemium", "trial": { "available": true } },
"trust": { ... },
"integration": { ... },
"verification": { "health_endpoint": "https://yourapp.com/api/health" }
}Who It's For
App Developers
Make your app discoverable by AI agents with a simple JSON file. 5 minutes to adopt, zero cost to list.
AI Agent Builders
Query OAP registries to find the right application for any user need. Structured data, not guesswork.
Users
Get better app recommendations from your AI assistant. Trust signals help agents filter out bad actors.
Registry Operators
Run your own OAP registry, like running an npm registry. Open protocol, open data, no gatekeepers.
Open Infrastructure
OAP is released under CC0 1.0 Universal (public domain). No company controls it. Anyone can implement it, extend it, or run a registry. The protocol is designed to be as decentralized as DNS itself.