AGTP Standard Extended Method Vocabulary

Introduction

Motivation The AGTP core specification deliberately limits its Tier 1 method set to twelve methods that represent the universal operations of AI agent systems: data retrieval, content synthesis, resource booking, scheduling, context management, delegation, collaboration, confirmation, escalation, notification, capability discovery, and session suspension. This minimalist core enables broad baseline compliance without requiring implementations to support methods they do not need. Real-world agent deployments require a richer vocabulary. An agent performing data analysis needs ANALYZE, CLASSIFY, and EVALUATE. An agent connecting enterprise systems needs SYNC, MERGE, and CONNECT. An agent managing complex workflows needs CHAIN, BATCH, and RUN. An agent executing commercial operations needs AUTHORIZE, CANCEL, and PURCHASE. These operations are well-defined, widely needed, and deserve standardized method names, but they are not universal enough to belong in the Tier 1 core. This document defines the Tier 2 Standard Extended Method Vocabulary: a registered set of methods available to any AGTP implementation. Tier 2 methods are not required for AGTP compliance but SHOULD be implemented where their semantics apply. All methods in this document are defined instances of the action-intent semantic class standardized in the Agentic Grammar and Interface Specification . The AGIS grammar provides the governing rules under which these methods are valid. Organizations that require domain-specific methods beyond this vocabulary may define their own AGIS-conformant verbs using the Tier 4 grammar-based validation pathway in , without requiring IANA registration, provided their methods satisfy the AGIS syntactic and semantic class constraints.

Empirical Justification Agent Transfer Protocol is motivated by measured agent performance gains. Independent benchmarking (4,800 trials across Claude, Grok, and OpenAI-family models) compared pure CRUD endpoints against a mixed catalog containing both CRUD and the semantic verbs defined in this vocabulary. In mixed-paradigm conditions (Tier 1 CRUD + optional Tier 2 semantic methods), agentic verbs improved exact-match accuracy by 10–29 percentage points depending on model family (Claude +29 pp, Grok +18 pp, OpenAI +10 pp; all p<0.001). Parameter fidelity and clarification rate also improved. A description-swap ablation (J1/J2) isolated the mechanism: when CRUD paths received agentic-style descriptions, performance collapsed dramatically on weaker models (Grok -39 pp, OpenAI -43 pp). When agentic paths received CRUD-style descriptions, performance held nearly flat on Claude and degraded far less on other models. This demonstrates that semantic method names encode intent more resiliently than REST-style generics, even when documentation quality varies — precisely the scenario Tier 2 methods are designed to address. Two-stage discovery (as required by AGTP session establishment) incurs a modest cost (12–17 pp) but does not erase the net gain. The QUOTE method and Supported-Methods header further reduce unnecessary invocations. These results validate the tiered design: Tier 1 provides the operational simplicity developers require, while the registered Tier 2 vocabulary delivers measurable agent performance and resilience. Implementations are encouraged to adopt Tier 2 methods where their domain semantics align.

Taxonomy Methods are organized into six categories. Each category has a distinct operational character:

ACQUIRE:: Retrieve data, resources, or state without modifying it. Agents observe, locate, and extract information.
COMPUTE:: Process or transform information to produce a derived result. Agents analyze, classify, summarize, and generate outputs.
TRANSACT:: Execute operations that alter system state or complete an external commitment. Agents book, purchase, authorize, and register.
INTEGRATE:: Connect, synchronize, or unify data and services across system boundaries. Agents merge, link, sync, and map across silos.
COMMUNICATE:: Deliver signals, messages, or structured outputs to recipients. Agents notify, alert, broadcast, and reply.
ORCHESTRATE:: Coordinate, sequence, and manage workflows across tasks, agents, and time. Agents chain, batch, route, and schedule.

The category taxonomy aligns with the ACTION framework defined in . The INTEGRATE category is the key distinction from simpler models: cross-system unification operations are neither transactions (no external commitment) nor computations (no transformation of content into a new analytical form). They are connective operations with distinct failure modes, conflict policies, and reversibility characteristics.

Method Registration All methods in this document are registered in the IANA AGTP Method Registry per the registration procedure defined in Section 9.2. Implementations MUST list supported Tier 2 methods in the Supported-Methods response header at session establishment. Clients SHOULD query this header before invoking Tier 2 methods. All methods defined in this document have been validated against the AGIS Grammar Specification and satisfy the following requirements:

Each method is a single uppercase alphabetic token in imperative base form (e.g., FETCH, not FETCHING or FETCHED).
Each method belongs to the action-intent semantic class: it expresses an operation the caller intends to be performed on their behalf.
No method duplicates a prohibited HTTP method name (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, HEAD, OPTIONS, CONNECT, TRACE).
Each method is accompanied by a semantic declaration sufficient for agent natural language inference, as required by Section 6.

The AGIS semantic class constraint is the normative basis for the "semantic uniqueness" review criterion applied by the Designated Expert during Tier 2 registration. A proposed method that describes a state or condition rather than an action-intent (e.g., AVAILABLE, ACTIVE) fails the semantic class requirement and MUST be rejected.

Terminology The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14 when, and only when, they appear in all capitals.

Tier 1 Method:: A core AGTP method defined in Section 7.2, required for baseline AGTP compliance.
Tier 2 Method:: A standard extended AGTP method defined in this document, registered in the IANA AGTP Method Registry, available to any implementation but not required for baseline compliance.
Idempotent:: A method is idempotent if multiple identical invocations produce the same result as a single invocation. Non-idempotent methods MUST NOT be retried without explicit application-layer handling.
Action-Intent Verb:: A verb belonging to the semantic class required by for all AGTP method identifiers. An action-intent verb expresses an operation the caller intends to be performed on their behalf, in imperative base form. All methods defined in this document are action-intent verbs.
AGIS-Conformant Method:: A method identifier that satisfies all syntactic and semantic class requirements of the AGIS Grammar Specification . All Tier 1 and Tier 2 registered methods are AGIS-conformant. Organizations may also define AGIS-conformant methods outside this registry using the Tier 4 grammar-based validation pathway in .
Reference Vocabulary:: The collection of Tier 1 and Tier 2 AGTP registered methods, which serve as recommended AGIS-conformant vocabulary for common agent operations. Use of the reference vocabulary maximizes cross-system interoperability. Domain-specific operations not covered by the reference vocabulary may be expressed using Tier 4 custom methods.

ACQUIRE Category Methods ACQUIRE methods retrieve data, resources, or state without modifying it. Agents use ACQUIRE methods to observe, locate, and extract information from internal or external sources. All ACQUIRE methods are idempotent unless noted.

FETCH Purpose: Retrieve a specific resource by identifier. Distinguished from QUERY (which expresses an information need without specifying a location) by targeting a known resource at a known address. Use case: An agent retrieves the current version of a contract document by its document ID before passing it to ANALYZE. FETCH Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
resource_id	MUST	Identifier or URI of the resource to retrieve
format	MAY	Requested response format
version	MAY	Specific version of the resource to retrieve
if_modified_since	MAY	ISO 8601 timestamp; return only if modified after

Response: Resource content with metadata. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 404, 403, 408.

SEARCH Purpose: Execute a structured search query against a data source and return matching results. Distinguished from QUERY by accepting structured query syntax (field filters, range constraints, sort order) rather than natural language intent. Use case: An agent locates all purchase orders above $50,000 in pending status, sorted by submission date. SEARCH Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
query	MUST	Structured query expression or filter object
scope	SHOULD	Data sources or indices to search
limit	MAY	Maximum number of results to return
offset	MAY	Pagination offset
sort	MAY	Sort field and order

Response: Result set with pagination metadata. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 400, 422.

SCAN Purpose: Enumerate or iterate over a collection of resources, potentially applying lightweight filters. Distinguished from SEARCH by prioritizing completeness over relevance ranking. Use case: An agent audits all agents in a governance zone by iterating over the full registry, page by page, to build a compliance report. SCAN Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
collection	MUST	Identifier of the collection to scan
filter	MAY	Simple filter criteria
cursor	MAY	Continuation cursor from a prior SCAN response
page_size	MAY	Number of items to return per page

Response: Page of results with continuation cursor if more items remain. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 404, 408.

PULL Purpose: Retrieve pending items from a queue or stream. Consumes items from the source; the agent takes ownership of pulled items. Use case: An order-processing agent pulls the next batch of unprocessed orders from the fulfillment queue to begin packing instructions. PULL Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
source	MUST	Queue or stream identifier
max_items	MAY	Maximum number of items to pull
visibility_timeout	MAY	Seconds for which pulled items are hidden from other consumers

Response: List of pulled items with item IDs for acknowledgment. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 404, 409.

FIND Purpose: Locate an agent, resource, or entity matching specified criteria. Distinguished from SEARCH by targeting agent or entity discovery rather than content retrieval. Use case: An orchestrator locates all available analyst agents in the partner governance zone that support the VALIDATE method. FIND Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
criteria	MUST	Structured criteria for the entity to find
namespace	SHOULD	Registry or namespace to search within
limit	MAY	Maximum results to return

Response: List of matching entities with identifiers and metadata. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 404, 422.

ANALYZE Purpose: Perform observational analysis or pattern detection on a dataset or system state. Distinguished from COMPUTE methods such as SUMMARIZE or CLASSIFY by returning findings, patterns, and anomalies rather than transforming the input. ANALYZE does not modify state. Use case: An agent detects anomalous spending patterns in a quarterly expense dataset by analyzing transaction frequency and amount distributions against historical baselines. ANALYZE Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
target	MUST	Dataset, system identifier, or inline data to analyze
analysis_type	SHOULD	Pattern type: anomaly, trend, distribution, correlation
time_range	MAY	ISO 8601 time window for time-series data
sensitivity	MAY	Detection sensitivity threshold (0.0-1.0)
explain	MAY	If true, include reasoning behind each finding

Response: Findings document with detected patterns, anomaly indicators, and confidence scores per finding. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 400, 422, 503.

COMPUTE Category Methods COMPUTE methods process or transform information to produce a derived result. Agents use COMPUTE methods to analyze, classify, summarize, and generate outputs from existing inputs. COMPUTE methods are typically idempotent given the same input.

EXTRACT Purpose: Pull structured information from unstructured or semi-structured source content. Use case: An agent extracts party names, dates, and obligation clauses from an unstructured legal contract into a structured JSON schema. EXTRACT Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
source	MUST	Content to extract from
schema	MUST	Target structure for extracted data
confidence_threshold	MAY	Minimum confidence for included extractions

Response: Extracted data conforming to the declared schema, with confidence scores per field. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 400, 422.

FILTER Purpose: Apply criteria to a dataset and return only matching records. Use case: An agent filters a product catalog to items that are in-stock, priced under $200, and tagged with a specific category. FILTER Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
data	MUST	Dataset to filter (inline or by reference)
criteria	MUST	Filter expression
output_format	MAY	Format for filtered results

Response: Filtered dataset. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 400, 422.

VALIDATE Purpose: Check input data, a document, or a proposed action against a schema, policy, or rule set. Returns validation results but does not modify state. Use case: An agent validates an invoice payload against the accounts payable schema and business rules before submitting it for payment. VALIDATE Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
target	MUST	Data, document, or action to validate
schema	SHOULD	Schema or rule set to validate against
strict	MAY	If true, treat warnings as failures

Response: Validation result with pass/fail status, errors, and warnings. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 400, 422.

TRANSFORM Purpose: Convert data from one format, schema, or structure to another. Use case: An agent converts a vendor's proprietary order payload into the internal canonical order schema before routing to fulfillment. TRANSFORM Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
source	MUST	Data to transform
source_format	SHOULD	Format of the input data
target_format	MUST	Desired output format or schema
mapping	MAY	Field mapping specification

Response: Transformed data in the target format. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 400, 422.

TRANSLATE Purpose: Convert content between human languages. Use case: An agent translates product descriptions from English into French and German to prepare a multilingual catalog update. TRANSLATE Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
content	MUST	Text or structured content to translate
source_language	SHOULD	BCP 47 language tag; auto-detected if absent
target_language	MUST	BCP 47 language tag of desired output
formality	MAY	formal or informal

Response: Translated content with source and target language codes. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 400, 422.

NORMALIZE Purpose: Standardize data values to a canonical form (dates, phone numbers, addresses, currency amounts, units). Use case: An agent normalizes customer records ingested from three regional CRMs using different date formats, phone conventions, and address schemas into a unified canonical format. NORMALIZE Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
data	MUST	Data to normalize
type	MUST	Normalization type: date, phone, address, currency, unit
locale	MAY	Locale context for normalization

Response: Normalized data with original and canonical forms. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 400, 422.

PREDICT Purpose: Apply a model or function to input data and return a predicted output or probability estimate. Use case: An agent predicts the likelihood of customer churn for each account in a segment, returning probability scores and top contributing factors for accounts above the risk threshold. PREDICT Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
input	MUST	Input data for the prediction
model_id	SHOULD	Identifier of the model to use
confidence_floor	MAY	Minimum confidence required to return a result
explain	MAY	If true, include feature attribution in response

Response: Prediction result with confidence score and optional explanation. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 400, 422, 503.

RANK Purpose: Sort or score a set of items by relevance, quality, or a declared criterion. Use case: An agent ranks a shortlist of job candidates by predicted role fit, ordering them for recruiter review. RANK Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
items	MUST	List of items to rank
criterion	MUST	Ranking criterion or scoring function
limit	MAY	Return only the top-N items

Response: Ranked list with scores per item. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 400, 422.

CLASSIFY Purpose: Assign one or more items to categories from a known classification scheme. Distinguished from RANK (which scores and orders items) and PREDICT (which estimates future states) by assigning categorical labels to existing data. Use case: An agent classifies incoming support tickets into one of eight predefined categories to route them to the appropriate team. CLASSIFY Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
items	MUST	Items or data records to classify
taxonomy	MUST	Classification scheme or label set to use
multi_label	MAY	If true, each item may receive more than one label
confidence_threshold	MAY	Minimum confidence for a label assignment

Response: Classification result with assigned labels and confidence scores per item. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 400, 422.

CALCULATE Purpose: Perform numeric, logical, or financial computations on structured inputs. Distinguished from PREDICT (probabilistic) and EVALUATE (qualitative comparison) by operating on deterministic mathematical or rule-based logic. Use case: An agent calculates the total cost of a procurement order including applicable taxes, shipping fees, and bulk discount rules. CALCULATE Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
expression	MUST	Computation to perform, as a structured formula object or registered formula ID
inputs	MUST	Named input values for the computation
precision	MAY	Number of decimal places in the result
currency	MAY	ISO 4217 currency code for financial computations

Response: Computation result with inputs echoed, formula applied, and output value. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 400, 422.

EVALUATE Purpose: Compare a target against benchmarks, rules, standards, or criteria and return a qualitative or scored assessment. Distinguished from VALIDATE (pass/fail against a schema) by returning a graded assessment with explanatory context. Use case: An agent evaluates a vendor proposal against a weighted scorecard covering price, delivery timeline, compliance posture, and references, returning a composite score and narrative rationale. EVALUATE Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
target	MUST	Item, document, or entity to evaluate
criteria	MUST	Evaluation criteria or scorecard definition
weights	MAY	Relative weights for each criterion
rubric	MAY	Scoring rubric mapping values to qualitative labels

Response: Evaluation result with per-criterion scores, composite score, and narrative rationale. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 400, 422.

GENERATE Purpose: Produce textual, structured, or code output from a source specification, dataset, or prompt. Distinguished from SUMMARIZE (which condenses existing content) by creating new content that did not exist in the source input. Use case: An agent generates API documentation from an OpenAPI specification, producing endpoint descriptions, parameter tables, and example payloads. GENERATE Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
source	SHOULD	Input specification, data, or context for generation
output_type	MUST	Type of output: text, code, json, html, markdown
format	MAY	Output format details (e.g., language for code generation)
length	MAY	Approximate target length or size
style	MAY	Style guidance: formal, casual, technical, neutral

Security note: GENERATE with output_type: code MUST require human or governance review before passing to RUN. Implementations providing a pipeline from GENERATE to RUN MUST insert an explicit VALIDATE or approval step between them. Response: Generated content with output_type field. Idempotent: Yes (for identical inputs). Error codes: 400, 422, 503.

RECOMMEND Purpose: Generate a ranked list of suggestions, options, or actions tailored to a declared context, goal, and constraints. Distinguished from RANK (which scores a provided list) by generating the candidate set itself based on the agent's understanding of the context. Use case: An agent recommends three product accessories to a customer based on their purchase history, stated budget, and current browsing context. RECOMMEND Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
context	MUST	User, session, or situational context for the recommendation
goal	MUST	What the recommendation is optimizing for
constraints	SHOULD	Hard limits: budget, category, availability, exclusions
limit	MAY	Maximum number of recommendations to return
explain	MAY	If true, include rationale for each recommendation

Response: Ordered list of recommendations with scores, rationale, and confidence per item. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 400, 422, 503.

TRANSACT Category Methods TRANSACT methods perform state-changing operations with external systems, records, or commitments. TRANSACT methods are not idempotent by default.

QUOTE Purpose: Pre-flight cost estimation for a proposed method invocation. The requesting agent submits a proposed method call; the server returns a cost estimate without executing the method. Servers supporting Budget-Limit SHOULD implement QUOTE. Use case: An agent estimates the token cost of a large-document SUMMARIZE operation before committing, to verify it stays within the session budget. QUOTE Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
method	MUST	The AGTP method for which a cost estimate is requested
parameters	MUST	The parameters that would be passed to that method
budget_units	SHOULD	Units in which to express the estimate

Response: Cost estimate in Cost-Estimate response header and response body, with confidence range. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 400, 404, 422.

REGISTER Purpose: Create a new record, entity, or subscription in a target system. Use case: An onboarding agent registers a new employee in the identity management system, the access control system, and the payroll platform as three sequential REGISTER calls within a single session. REGISTER Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
entity_type	MUST	Type of entity to register
data	MUST	Registration data
idempotency_key	SHOULD	Client-provided key for duplicate detection

Response: Registration receipt with new entity identifier. Idempotent: No (use idempotency_key for safe retry). Error codes: 409, 422.

SUBMIT Purpose: Deliver data, a document, or a work item to a processing system or queue for handling. Use case: An agent submits a completed expense report to the finance system's approval queue for human review. SUBMIT Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
target	MUST	Destination system or queue
payload	MUST	Data or document to submit
priority	MAY	Submission priority
callback	MAY	AGTP endpoint for delivery confirmation

Response: Submission receipt with tracking identifier. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 400, 409, 503.

AUTHORIZE Purpose: Approve permissions, credentials, or access for an entity, action, or resource. Distinguished from VALIDATE (which checks conformance) by issuing an active grant rather than a check result. Use case: An identity agent authorizes a contractor's access request for a restricted project repository, generating a scoped access token with a defined expiry. AUTHORIZE Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
subject	MUST	Agent-ID, principal, or entity to authorize
resource	MUST	Resource or action being authorized
scope	MUST	Permissions being granted
ttl	SHOULD	Time-to-live for the authorization in seconds
conditions	MAY	Conditional constraints on the authorization

Security note: AUTHORIZE MUST carry authorization:grant in the agent's Authority-Scope. The granted scope MUST NOT exceed the authorizing agent's own declared scope (the anti-laundering constraint from Section 7.2.7 applies to all authorization grants). 451 Scope Violation MUST be returned if either constraint is violated. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 403, 409, 451.

CANCEL Purpose: Revoke or reverse a previously scheduled or committed transaction. Distinguished from lifecycle operations (agent suspension or revocation) by targeting a specific transaction, booking, or reservation rather than an agent's registry state. Use case: An agent cancels a conference room booking on behalf of the principal, releasing availability and notifying other attendees. CANCEL Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
target_id	MUST	Identifier of the transaction, booking, or reservation to cancel
reason	SHOULD	Structured cancellation reason
notify_parties	MAY	If true, NOTIFY relevant parties on cancellation
refund_policy	MAY	Refund handling: full, partial, none

Response: Cancellation receipt with confirmation and any refund details. Idempotent: No (cancellation of an already-cancelled item SHOULD return 409 Conflict). Error codes: 404, 409, 422.

TRANSFER Purpose: Move ownership or custody of a resource from one principal or agent to another. Use case: An agent transfers custodianship of a finalized contract to the legal archive system, removing it from the active working directory and updating ownership records. TRANSFER Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
resource_id	MUST	Resource to transfer
from_principal	MUST	Current owner
to_principal	MUST	New owner
reason	SHOULD	Reason for transfer

Security note: TRANSFER MUST verify that the requesting agent holds Authority-Scope for the resource type being transferred. 451 Scope Violation MUST be returned if not. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 403, 404, 409, 451.

PURCHASE Purpose: Execute a financial transaction to acquire a resource, service, or allocation. Use case: A travel agent purchases a confirmed airline seat after the principal approves the itinerary, carrying the principal's payment method identifier. PURCHASE Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
item	MUST	Item or service being purchased
principal_id	MUST	Principal authorizing the purchase
amount	MUST	Purchase amount and currency
payment_method	SHOULD	Payment instrument identifier
confirm_immediately	MAY	Boolean; if false, creates a hold

Security note: PURCHASE MUST carry payments:purchase in the agent's Authority-Scope. 451 Scope Violation MUST be returned if absent. PURCHASE MUST validate against the Budget-Limit header if present. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 403, 409, 451, 452.

SIGN Purpose: Apply a cryptographic signature to a document, assertion, or data artifact using the agent's or principal's signing key. Use case: An agent signs a finalized service agreement on behalf of the principal using the organization's governance key, producing a timestamped, non-repudiable signature record. SIGN Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
payload	MUST	Data to sign
key_id	SHOULD	Identifier of the signing key to use
algorithm	MAY	Signature algorithm; defaults to implementation default

Response: Signed artifact with signature metadata. Idempotent: No (signatures include timestamps). Error codes: 403, 422.

LOG Purpose: Write a structured record to an audit trail or operational log. Agents SHOULD use LOG for governance-significant events rather than embedding log data in other method payloads. Use case: A financial agent logs each step of a multi-stage wire transfer approval workflow as discrete LOG events, creating an audit trail for compliance reporting. LOG Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
event_type	MUST	Structured event category
data	MUST	Event data
severity	SHOULD	info, warning, error, or critical
correlation_id	MAY	ID linking this event to a parent task or session

Response: Log receipt with record identifier. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 400, 503.

PUBLISH Purpose: Make content or data available to a defined audience or channel. Use case: An agent publishes a finalized research summary to the organizational knowledge base, making it discoverable to all users with knowledge:read scope. PUBLISH Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
content	MUST	Content to publish
channel	MUST	Target channel or audience identifier
format	SHOULD	Content format
schedule_at	MAY	ISO 8601 timestamp for deferred publication

Response: Publication receipt with content identifier and channel confirmation. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 400, 403, 409.

INTEGRATE Category Methods INTEGRATE methods connect, synchronize, or unify data and services across system boundaries. Agents use INTEGRATE methods to eliminate fragmentation across silos, align state across environments, and establish relationships between entities. The INTEGRATE category is distinct from TRANSACT (no external commitment or irreversible state change) and from COMPUTE (no transformation of content into a new analytical form). INTEGRATE methods concern structural alignment and relational connectivity.

MERGE Purpose: Combine two or more datasets, documents, or resources into a unified result, resolving conflicts according to a declared policy. Use case: An agent merges duplicate customer profiles detected across two acquired subsidiary databases into a single canonical record, applying a "most recently updated" conflict resolution strategy. MERGE Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
sources	MUST	List of resources or inline data to merge
strategy	SHOULD	Merge strategy: union, intersection, latest, manual
conflict_resolution	MAY	Policy for conflicting fields

Response: Merged result with conflict report if applicable. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 400, 409, 422.

LINK Purpose: Create a persistent association or relationship between two entities in a system of record. Distinguished from MAP (which defines structural schema correspondence) by creating a relationship record between specific instances. Use case: An agent links a user's enterprise SSO identity to their account in a third-party analytics platform, establishing a persistent cross-system identity association. LINK Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
source	MUST	Source entity identifier
target	MUST	Target entity identifier
relationship	MUST	Type of relationship
metadata	MAY	Additional relationship attributes

Response: Link record with relationship identifier. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 404, 409.

SYNC Purpose: Reconcile the state of a local resource with a remote authoritative source, aligning records bidirectionally or unidirectionally. Use case: An agent synchronizes the local product inventory cache with the warehouse management system, pulling delta changes since the last sync timestamp and pushing any local updates that occurred offline. SYNC Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
resource	MUST	Resource to synchronize
remote	MUST	Authoritative source URI
direction	SHOULD	pull, push, or bidirectional
conflict_policy	MAY	remote_wins, local_wins, or manual

Response: Sync receipt with change summary. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 404, 409, 503.

IMPORT Purpose: Bring external data into the agent's operational context or a designated storage target from a non-AGTP-native source. Distinguished from FETCH (which retrieves a known resource by ID from an AGTP-native address) by ingesting from external systems. Use case: An agent imports a CSV export of contact records from a legacy CRM into the new system, resolving format differences and logging import statistics. IMPORT Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
source	MUST	URI or inline data to import
target	MUST	Destination identifier within the agent's context
format	SHOULD	Format of the source data
conflict_policy	MAY	Behavior on conflict: overwrite, skip, merge

Response: Import receipt with record count and any conflict resolutions. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 400, 409, 422.

MAP Purpose: Define a structural correspondence between two schemas, data models, or field sets. Distinguished from TRANSFORM (which applies a mapping to convert a specific payload) by producing a reusable mapping definition rather than executing a one-time conversion. Use case: An agent generates a field-level mapping between an external vendor's order schema and the internal canonical order schema, producing a reusable mapping document that subsequent TRANSFORM calls can reference. MAP Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
source_schema	MUST	Schema or data model to map from
target_schema	MUST	Schema or data model to map to
strategy	SHOULD	Mapping strategy: exact, semantic, custom
unmapped_policy	MAY	Behavior for fields with no target: ignore, flag, preserve

Response: Mapping document with per-field correspondence and confidence scores. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 400, 422.

CONNECT Purpose: Establish a conduit, session, or integration channel between two systems, services, or agents. Distinguished from LINK (which creates a record-level association) by establishing an active communication or data pathway. Use case: An agent establishes a streaming data connection between a sensor telemetry feed and the observability platform, configuring the channel parameters and returning a handle for subsequent operations. CONNECT Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
source	MUST	Source system or agent identifier
destination	MUST	Destination system or agent identifier
channel_type	SHOULD	Type of connection: stream, webhook, polling, event-bus
config	MAY	Channel-specific configuration parameters
ttl	MAY	Connection lifetime in seconds; persists until CANCEL if absent

Response: Connection handle with connection ID and channel metadata. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 404, 409, 503.

EMBED Purpose: Insert one component, dataset, or agent capability into another as a nested or composed element. Used when an integration requires one system to host or expose the functionality of another within its own operational context. Use case: An agent embeds a third-party risk-scoring model's output into the organization's credit decisioning workflow as a named sub-component, making its scores available inline within decisioning records. EMBED Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
source	MUST	Component, dataset, or capability to embed
target	MUST	Container or context to embed into
binding	SHOULD	Named reference or mount point within the target
version	MAY	Specific version of the source to embed

Response: Embedding receipt with binding reference and version. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 400, 404, 409.

COMMUNICATE Category Methods COMMUNICATE methods deliver signals, messages, or structured outputs to recipients. Agents use COMMUNICATE methods to push information, respond to incoming requests, and surface results to humans and systems.

ALERT Purpose: Send a high-priority, time-sensitive message to a recipient or group. Distinguished from NOTIFY (Tier 1, general-purpose async push) by signaling urgency and requiring acknowledgment handling if not acknowledged within a declared timeout. Use case: An infrastructure monitoring agent sends a critical alert to the on-call team when database latency exceeds the SLA threshold, carrying metric value, threshold, and recommended escalation path. ALERT Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
recipient	MUST	Target Agent-ID, human endpoint, or group
message	MUST	Alert content with severity and context
severity	MUST	critical, high, or warning
acknowledge_by	SHOULD	ISO 8601 deadline for acknowledgment
escalation_path	MAY	Fallback recipient if not acknowledged by deadline

Response: Alert delivery receipt with alert ID. Implementations SHOULD track acknowledgment state and trigger escalation on timeout. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 400, 404, 503.

BROADCAST Purpose: Disseminate information simultaneously to multiple recipients or a defined group. Distinguished from NOTIFY (targeted at a specific recipient) by addressing an audience rather than an individual and not expecting individual responses. Use case: An agent broadcasts a scheduled maintenance window notification to all registered subscriber endpoints across three governance zones. BROADCAST Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
audience	MUST	Group identifier, zone, or list of recipient identifiers
content	MUST	Broadcast payload
channel	SHOULD	Delivery channel: agtp, email, webhook, sms
expiry	MAY	Timestamp after which the broadcast should not be delivered

Response: Broadcast receipt with message ID and delivery count. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 400, 403, 503.

REPLY Purpose: Provide a direct, traceable response to an incoming NOTIFY, ESCALATE, or QUERY that explicitly requested a reply. Creates a response thread linked to the originating task. Use case: A human-in-the-loop handler sends a REPLY to a pending ESCALATE, providing a decision and carrying the original escalation ID for thread continuity. REPLY Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
in_reply_to	MUST	Task-ID of the message being replied to
content	MUST	Reply content
urgency	SHOULD	critical, informational, or background

Response: Reply receipt. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 404, 400.

SEND Purpose: Deliver a message or payload to a recipient through a declared external channel. Distinguished from NOTIFY (AGTP-native async push) by targeting non-AGTP delivery channels. Use case: An agent sends an email confirmation to a customer's registered email address after completing a booking, using a declared template identifier. SEND Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
recipient	MUST	Channel-specific address
channel	MUST	Delivery channel: email, webhook, sms, push
content	MUST	Message content
template_id	MAY	Template identifier for formatted delivery

Response: Delivery receipt with channel-specific confirmation. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 400, 404, 503.

REPORT Purpose: Generate and deliver a structured summary or analysis document to a principal or system. Distinguished from NOTIFY (raw payload push) by producing a formatted output artifact with declared structure. Use case: An agent generates and delivers a weekly sales performance summary to the sales leadership distribution list in PDF format. REPORT Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
report_type	MUST	Report category
scope	MUST	Data scope or time range for the report
recipient	MUST	Target principal or endpoint
format	SHOULD	Output format: pdf, json, html, markdown

Response: Report delivery receipt with document identifier. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 400, 422, 503.

ORCHESTRATE Category Methods ORCHESTRATE methods coordinate, sequence, and manage workflows, tasks, and agents across time and system boundaries. Agents use ORCHESTRATE methods to build composite execution flows, manage failure recovery, and direct work to appropriate handlers.

CHAIN Purpose: Link a defined sequence of AGTP method invocations into a composite workflow where each step's output may be used as input for subsequent steps. Distinguished from BATCH (which executes unrelated tasks in parallel) by enforcing sequential dependency between steps. Use case: An agent chains SEARCH, followed by ANALYZE, followed by REPORT into a single declared workflow for weekly competitor intelligence, where each step uses the prior step's output. CHAIN Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
steps	MUST	Ordered list of AGTP method calls with parameters
on_failure	SHOULD	Behavior if a step fails: abort, skip, retry, escalate
context_propagation	MAY	If true, each step's output is available to subsequent steps
timeout	MAY	Maximum total execution time across all steps in seconds

Response: Execution receipt with chain ID and per-step status. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 400, 408, 422.

BATCH Purpose: Group multiple independent AGTP method calls for concurrent or bulk execution, reducing round-trip overhead. Distinguished from CHAIN (sequentially dependent) by executing steps independently without output dependency. Use case: An agent batches twenty TRANSLATE calls for product descriptions into a single BATCH invocation, reducing latency from twenty serial round-trips to a single parallel execution. BATCH Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
calls	MUST	List of independent AGTP method calls to execute
execution_mode	SHOULD	parallel or sequential; default parallel
partial_success	MAY	If true, return results for successful calls even if others fail

Response: Batch result containing individual outcome per call. Idempotent: Conditional (depends on idempotency of component calls). Error codes: 400, 408, 422.

MONITOR Purpose: Establish ongoing observation of an agent, resource, or condition. Returns a subscription handle; the AGTP server delivers updates via NOTIFY when observed conditions change. Use case: An agent establishes a monitor on the behavioral trust score of a set of sub-agents, receiving NOTIFY updates when any agent's score drops below the declared threshold. MONITOR Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
target	MUST	Agent-ID, resource URI, or condition expression
events	MUST	Event types to observe
callback	MUST	AGTP endpoint for NOTIFY delivery
threshold	MAY	Condition value that triggers notification
interval	MAY	Polling interval in seconds if event-based delivery is unavailable

Response: Monitor subscription receipt with subscription identifier. To cancel monitoring, send NOTIFY with event type monitor_cancel and the subscription identifier. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 404, 400.

ROUTE Purpose: Direct a task, message, or work item to the appropriate handler or agent based on declared routing criteria. Use case: An agent routes an incoming customer inquiry to the appropriate specialized handling agent based on topic classification, account tier, and declared availability of candidate handlers. ROUTE Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
payload	MUST	Item to route
criteria	MUST	Routing criteria or rules
candidates	SHOULD	List of candidate Agent-IDs or endpoints
fallback	MAY	Default handler if no candidate matches

Response: Routing decision with selected handler identifier. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 404, 422, 503.

RETRY Purpose: Re-attempt a previously failed AGTP method invocation using a prior Task-ID. Distinguished from a new invocation by carrying the original Task-ID for idempotency checking at the server. Use case: An agent retries a failed BOOK call after a 503 Unavailable, carrying the original Task-ID so the booking system can detect and suppress any duplicate if the original call was partially processed. RETRY Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
original_task_id	MUST	Task-ID of the failed invocation
delay	MAY	Seconds to wait before retrying
max_attempts	MAY	Maximum total attempts including this one

Response: New task receipt linked to the original task. Idempotent: Yes (for idempotent original methods); No for non-idempotent originals. Error codes: 404, 409.

PAUSE Purpose: Temporarily halt a scheduled or repeating workflow without terminating it. Distinguished from SUSPEND (Tier 1, which targets a session) by targeting a workflow or schedule record. Use case: An agent pauses a recurring data pipeline workflow during a maintenance window, setting a resume timestamp at the scheduled end of the window. PAUSE Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
workflow_id	MUST	Identifier of the workflow or schedule to pause
reason	SHOULD	Reason for pause
resume_at	MAY	ISO 8601 timestamp for automatic resumption

Response: Pause receipt with workflow status. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 404, 409.

RESUME Purpose: Restart a paused workflow or a suspended session. Use case: An agent resumes a paused procurement workflow after the required human approval has been received, using the resumption nonce issued at PAUSE time. RESUME Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
workflow_id	MUST	Workflow or session identifier
resumption_nonce	MUST (for sessions)	Nonce issued at SUSPEND or PAUSE
checkpoint	MAY	State override for resumption context

Response: Resumption receipt with current workflow status. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 404, 408, 409.

RUN Purpose: Execute a named, registered procedure or automation script. Implementations MUST NOT accept free-form execution strings; the procedure MUST be identified by a registered procedure_id. Use case: An agent runs a registered data quality validation procedure against a freshly imported dataset, passing the dataset ID as input and receiving a structured pass/fail report. RUN Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
procedure_id	MUST	Registered identifier of the procedure to run
input	MAY	Input parameters for the procedure
timeout	MAY	Maximum execution time in seconds

Security note: RUN MUST require activation:run in the agent's Authority-Scope. Free-form execution strings MUST NOT be accepted under any circumstances. Idempotent: No. Error codes: 403, 404, 408, 422, 451.

CHECK Purpose: Query the status or health of an agent, resource, workflow, or external dependency. Returns a structured status response. Use case: An agent checks the availability of all three downstream payment processors before initiating a purchase, using depth: shallow to minimize latency. CHECK Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
target	MUST	Agent-ID, resource URI, or system identifier
depth	MAY	shallow (reachability only) or deep (full dependency check)

Response: Status document with health indicators per component. Idempotent: Yes. Error codes: 404, 408.

Method Summary Tier 2 Method Summary

Method	Category	State-Modifying	Idempotent	Key Constraints
FETCH	Acquire	No	Yes
SEARCH	Acquire	No	Yes
SCAN	Acquire	No	Yes
PULL	Acquire	Yes	No	Consumes items
FIND	Acquire	No	Yes
ANALYZE	Acquire	No	Yes
EXTRACT	Compute	No	Yes
FILTER	Compute	No	Yes
VALIDATE	Compute	No	Yes
TRANSFORM	Compute	No	Yes
TRANSLATE	Compute	No	Yes
NORMALIZE	Compute	No	Yes
PREDICT	Compute	No	Yes
RANK	Compute	No	Yes
CLASSIFY	Compute	No	Yes
CALCULATE	Compute	No	Yes
EVALUATE	Compute	No	Yes
GENERATE	Compute	No	Yes	code output requires review before RUN
RECOMMEND	Compute	No	Yes
QUOTE	Transact	No	Yes	No execution
REGISTER	Transact	Yes	No	Use idempotency_key
SUBMIT	Transact	Yes	No
AUTHORIZE	Transact	Yes	No	Requires authorization:grant; scope subset only
CANCEL	Transact	Yes	No
TRANSFER	Transact	Yes	No	Requires scope
PURCHASE	Transact	Yes	No	Requires payments:purchase
SIGN	Transact	Yes	No
LOG	Transact	Yes	No
PUBLISH	Transact	Yes	No
MERGE	Integrate	Yes	No
LINK	Integrate	Yes	No
SYNC	Integrate	Yes	No
IMPORT	Integrate	Yes	No
MAP	Integrate	No	Yes	Produces mapping definition; does not convert data
CONNECT	Integrate	Yes	No
EMBED	Integrate	Yes	No
ALERT	Communicate	No	No	Acknowledgment tracking required
BROADCAST	Communicate	No	No
REPLY	Communicate	No	No
SEND	Communicate	No	No
REPORT	Communicate	Yes	No
CHAIN	Orchestrate	Yes	No
BATCH	Orchestrate	Yes	Conditional
MONITOR	Orchestrate	Yes	No
ROUTE	Orchestrate	Yes	No
RETRY	Orchestrate	Yes	Conditional
PAUSE	Orchestrate	Yes	No
RESUME	Orchestrate	Yes	No
RUN	Orchestrate	Yes	No	No free-form strings
CHECK	Orchestrate	No	Yes

Security Considerations

PURCHASE Authorization The PURCHASE method carries financial consequences and MUST be subject to strict scope enforcement. Implementations MUST reject PURCHASE requests that do not carry payments:purchase in the Authority-Scope header with 451 Scope Violation. Budget-Limit validation MUST occur before execution; 452 Budget Exceeded MUST be returned if the purchase amount would exceed the declared budget.

AUTHORIZE Scope Constraint The AUTHORIZE method grants permissions to other entities and is subject to the same anti-laundering constraint that applies to DELEGATE in the Tier 1 core: the scope granted by an AUTHORIZE call MUST NOT exceed the authorizing agent's own Authority-Scope. Any implementation receiving an AUTHORIZE request where the grant scope exceeds the authorizing agent's declared scope MUST return 451 Scope Violation and MUST log the event.

RUN Method Safety The RUN method is the highest-risk Tier 2 method. Implementations MUST maintain a registry of permitted procedure_id values and MUST NOT execute procedures not in that registry. Free-form execution strings MUST be rejected. Each RUN invocation MUST be logged with the full procedure_id, input parameters, and executing Agent-ID.

GENERATE Code Output Safety When GENERATE is invoked with output_type: code, the resulting code MUST NOT be passed directly to RUN without human or governance review. Implementations providing a pipeline from GENERATE to RUN MUST insert an explicit VALIDATE or approval step between them.

MONITOR Callback Verification The callback parameter in MONITOR specifies an AGTP endpoint to receive updates. Implementations MUST verify that the callback endpoint is reachable and that the requesting agent has authority to receive notifications at that endpoint before establishing a monitoring subscription. Unverified callbacks are a potential exfiltration vector.

TRANSFER and Ownership Chain Integrity TRANSFER operations modify resource ownership and create audit obligations. Implementations MUST record the complete ownership chain for each transferred resource in the governance audit trail. The Attribution-Record for TRANSFER MUST include both from_principal and to_principal.

IANA Considerations This document requests registration of the following methods in the IANA AGTP Method Registry established by Section 9.2: Tier 2 Method Registry Entries

Method	Category	Status	Description
FETCH	Acquire	Permanent	Retrieve a known resource by identifier from an AGTP-native address
SEARCH	Acquire	Permanent	Execute a structured query against a data source using field filters and sort criteria
SCAN	Acquire	Permanent	Iterate over a collection for completeness; prioritizes coverage over relevance
PULL	Acquire	Permanent	Consume pending items from a queue or stream; agent takes ownership of pulled items
FIND	Acquire	Permanent	Locate agents or entities matching criteria in a registry or namespace
ANALYZE	Acquire	Permanent	Detect patterns, anomalies, or trends in a dataset without modifying it
EXTRACT	Compute	Permanent	Pull structured fields from unstructured or semi-structured source content
FILTER	Compute	Permanent	Return only records from a dataset that satisfy declared criteria
VALIDATE	Compute	Permanent	Check data or a proposed action against a schema or rule set; returns pass/fail
TRANSFORM	Compute	Permanent	Convert a specific payload from one format or schema to another
TRANSLATE	Compute	Permanent	Convert content between human languages
NORMALIZE	Compute	Permanent	Standardize data values to canonical form: dates, phones, addresses, currency
PREDICT	Compute	Permanent	Apply a model to input data and return a probability estimate or forecast
RANK	Compute	Permanent	Score and order a provided list of items by a declared criterion
CLASSIFY	Compute	Permanent	Assign categorical labels to items from a known classification scheme
CALCULATE	Compute	Permanent	Perform deterministic numeric, logical, or financial computation on structured inputs
EVALUATE	Compute	Permanent	Score a target against a weighted rubric; returns graded assessment with rationale
GENERATE	Compute	Permanent	Produce new text, structured data, or code from a source specification or prompt
RECOMMEND	Compute	Permanent	Generate a ranked candidate set tailored to a declared context and goal
QUOTE	Transact	Permanent	Return a cost estimate for a proposed method call without executing it
REGISTER	Transact	Permanent	Create a new record, entity, or subscription in a target system
SUBMIT	Transact	Permanent	Deliver a document or work item to a processing system or queue
AUTHORIZE	Transact	Permanent	Issue an active permission grant; scope granted must not exceed authorizing agent's scope
CANCEL	Transact	Permanent	Revoke or reverse a specific prior transaction, booking, or reservation
TRANSFER	Transact	Permanent	Move ownership or custody of a resource between principals
PURCHASE	Transact	Permanent	Execute a financial transaction; requires payments:purchase in Authority-Scope
SIGN	Transact	Permanent	Apply a cryptographic signature to a document or artifact
LOG	Transact	Permanent	Write a structured record to an audit trail for governance or compliance purposes
PUBLISH	Transact	Permanent	Make content available to a defined audience or channel
MERGE	Integrate	Permanent	Combine two or more datasets into a unified result with declared conflict resolution
LINK	Integrate	Permanent	Create a persistent association between two specific entity instances
SYNC	Integrate	Permanent	Reconcile local and remote resource state bidirectionally or unidirectionally
IMPORT	Integrate	Permanent	Ingest data from a non-AGTP-native external source into the agent's context
MAP	Integrate	Permanent	Define a reusable structural correspondence between two schemas or data models
CONNECT	Integrate	Permanent	Establish an active communication channel or data pathway between two systems
EMBED	Integrate	Permanent	Insert a component or capability into another system as a named sub-component
ALERT	Communicate	Permanent	Send a high-priority, time-sensitive message requiring acknowledgment
BROADCAST	Communicate	Permanent	Disseminate a message simultaneously to a group or zone without expecting replies
REPLY	Communicate	Permanent	Provide a traceable response to a prior NOTIFY, ESCALATE, or QUERY
SEND	Communicate	Permanent	Deliver a message through an external channel: email, webhook, SMS, or push
REPORT	Communicate	Permanent	Generate and deliver a structured summary document to a principal or system
CHAIN	Orchestrate	Permanent	Execute a sequence of method calls with output-to-input dependency between steps
BATCH	Orchestrate	Permanent	Execute multiple independent method calls concurrently to reduce round-trip overhead
MONITOR	Orchestrate	Permanent	Establish ongoing observation of a resource or condition; delivers updates via NOTIFY
ROUTE	Orchestrate	Permanent	Direct a task or message to the appropriate handler based on declared routing criteria
RETRY	Orchestrate	Permanent	Re-attempt a failed invocation using its original Task-ID for idempotency checking
PAUSE	Orchestrate	Permanent	Temporarily halt a scheduled or repeating workflow without terminating it
RESUME	Orchestrate	Permanent	Restart a paused workflow or suspended session using a resumption nonce
RUN	Orchestrate	Permanent	Execute a registered procedure by ID; free-form execution strings are prohibited
CHECK	Orchestrate	Permanent	Query the health or availability of an agent, resource, or external dependency