Agent-to-Agent Protocol/ A2A

Definition

Agent-to-Agent Protocol is communication pattern for autonomous agents to negotiate tasks, exchange state, and request support. In defense applications, it lets heterogeneous agents from different vendors cooperate without bespoke glue code. The hard part is semantic mismatch, trust failure, and coordination storms at scale, especially when systems are deployed across contested links, coalition boundaries, and mixed human-machine teams. KhanBMS treats it as a candidate interface for KhanBMS Arban-to-Zuun software coordination, tying the concept back to modular command, edge execution, and auditable authority.

Reference attributes

Layer

agent interoperability protocol

Operational value

Lets heterogeneous agents from different vendors cooperate without bespoke glue code

Primary risk

Semantic mismatch, trust failure, and coordination storms at scale

KhanBMS role

A candidate interface for KhanBMS Arban-to-Zuun software coordination

Related terms

• Model Context Protocol (MCP)
  Open protocol pattern for exposing tools, resources, and prompts to model agents through standard interfaces.
• Contract Net Protocol
  Foundational task-announcement, bid, and award protocol for multi-agent systems.
• Role Assignment
  Algorithmic allocation of scout, relay, decoy, strike, and reserve roles across autonomous assets.
• Consensus Algorithms for AI
  Protocols that let distributed AI nodes agree on shared state, leaders, or decisions despite latency and loss.