Why Sign MCP Feeds?
Trust Foundation for the Agent Web
The Trust Problem
Why the agent web needs cryptographic verification
🚨 Without Signatures
- • No provenance: Who really published this feed?
- • No integrity: Has it been tampered with?
- • No trust scoring: All feeds look identical
- • Security risks: Agents can't verify authenticity
- • Enterprise blockers: No audit trail or compliance
✅ With Signatures
- • Cryptographic proof: Verifiable publisher identity
- • Tamper detection: Any modification breaks signature
- • Trust hierarchy: Clear trust levels for agents
- • Safe interoperability: Agents exchange feeds securely
- • Enterprise ready: Audit trails and compliance
📊 Signed vs Unsigned: Visual Comparison
Unsigned Feed
Risky{
"feed_type": "mcp",
"metadata": {
"title": "API Service",
"origin": "https://api.example.com"
},
"capabilities": [
{
"path": "/data",
"method": "GET",
"intent": "fetch_data"
}
]
// No trust block!
// No signature!
// No verification possible!
}⚠️ Agent perspective:
- • "Who published this?"
- • "Is this legitimate?"
- • "Can I trust this data?"
- • "Has it been modified?"
Signed Feed
Trusted{
"feed_type": "mcp",
"metadata": {
"title": "API Service",
"origin": "https://api.example.com"
},
"capabilities": [...],
"trust": {
"signed_blocks": ["metadata", "capabilities"],
"trust_level": "certified",
"scope": "restricted",
"certifier": "https://llmca.org"
},
"signature": {
"algorithm": "ed25519",
"public_key_hint": "https://example.com/public.pem",
"value": "base64-signature-value...",
"created_at": "2025-06-19T10:30:00Z"
}
}✅ Agent perspective:
- • "Verified by LLMCA ✓"
- • "Publisher: example.com ✓"
- • "Integrity verified ✓"
- • "Trust level: certified ✓"
🏆 Trust Hierarchy
Unsigned
Anyone can publish — no guarantee of authenticity
Self-Signed
Feed signed by publisher's own cryptographic key
Certified
Self-signed AND certified by recognized authority (LLMCA)
Enterprise Certified
Full enterprise verification with SOC2, compliance audit
💎 Why Each Feed Type Needs Signing
| Feed Type | Why Sign? | Criticality |
|---|---|---|
MCP | Active endpoint verification - agents must trust capabilities and API access | Critical |
Credential | API access and permissions - security-critical for agent authorization | Critical |
Capabilities | Tool definitions and API contracts - prevents malicious capability injection | High |
Export | Content authenticity and source verification for agent consumption | Medium |
Prompt | Trusted prompt sharing and behavioral instruction verification | Medium |
🏢 Enterprise Use Cases
Education & Professional Credentials
Challenge: Manual verification of degrees and work experience
Solution: Institutional feeds for academic and professional credentials
- • Universities: Harvard MBA, Stanford CS degrees with GPA
- • GAFAM: Google, Meta, Apple verify former employees
- • AI Giants: OpenAI, Anthropic certify team alumni
- • Instant verification for employers and recruiters
- • Anti-fraud through tamper-proof professional records
- • Automated background check integration
Examples:
• "Jane Smith, Harvard MBA 2024, GPA 3.8, Magna Cum Laude" - hbs.edu signature
• "John Doe, Senior Engineer at Google 2020-2023" - google.com signature
• "Sarah Johnson, AI Researcher at OpenAI 2022-2024" - openai.com signature
Financial Services
Challenge: Regulatory compliance and audit requirements
Solution: Signed feeds provide complete audit trail
- • SOX compliance through cryptographic verification
- • Immutable transaction feed signatures
- • Agent authorization with certified credentials
- • Real-time audit trail for regulatory reporting
Healthcare
Challenge: HIPAA compliance and patient data security
Solution: Certified feeds ensure data integrity
- • Patient data feeds with tamper-proof signatures
- • Medical device API verification
- • Healthcare provider credential validation
- • Secure agent-to-agent medical data exchange
E-commerce
Challenge: Trust in automated purchasing and inventory
Solution: Verified product and pricing feeds
- • Certified product catalog feeds
- • Verified pricing and inventory data
- • Secure payment processing credentials
- • Anti-fraud through signature verification
Media & Publishing
Challenge: Content authenticity and copyright protection
Solution: Signed content feeds with provenance
- • Verified news article feeds
- • Copyright-protected content distribution
- • Anti-misinformation through source verification
- • Journalist credential and byline verification
Supply Chain
Challenge: Product authenticity and traceability verification
Solution: Manufacturer-signed product feeds
- • Anti-counterfeiting through origin verification
- • Supply chain transparency and tracking
- • Quality assurance and certification feeds
- • Automated compliance and safety verification
🔧 How to Sign Your Feeds
🚀 Option 1: Quick Start
💻 Option 2: Developer
🏢 Option 3: Enterprise
📋 Step-by-Step Signing Process
Generate Key Pair
Create Ed25519 public/private key pair for cryptographic signing
# Using OpenSSL openssl genpkey -algorithm Ed25519 -out private.pem openssl pkey -in private.pem -pubout -out public.pem
Structure Your Feed
Create your MCP feed with proper metadata and capabilities
Add Trust Block
Include trust metadata specifying which blocks are signed
"trust": {
"signed_blocks": ["metadata", "capabilities"],
"trust_level": "signed",
"scope": "restricted"
}Generate Signature
Sign the canonical JSON representation of specified blocks
Publish & Serve
Deploy to /.well-known/mcp.llmfeed.json and make public key accessible
Optional: Get Certified
Request LLMCA certification for maximum trust and enterprise compliance
Certification Process🌍 The Vision: HTTPS for the Agent Web
From Chaos to Trust
Just like HTTPS transformed the web from insecure to trusted, signed MCP feeds will transform the agent web from chaotic to reliable.
🔓 Before HTTPS (1990s Web)
- • Plain text communication
- • No identity verification
- • Easy to intercept and modify
- • No trust indicators
- • Enterprise adoption blocked
🔒 After HTTPS (Modern Web)
- • Encrypted communication
- • Certificate-based identity
- • Tamper-proof connections
- • Clear trust indicators (🔒)
- • Universal enterprise adoption
🚀 The Agent Web Future
Signed MCP feeds will become as fundamental as HTTPS certificates. Agents will automatically verify authenticity, enterprises will require signatures for compliance, and users will see clear trust indicators for AI interactions.
🚀 Ready to Build the Trusted Agent Web?
Join thousands of developers building the next generation of AI-readable, trustworthy web infrastructure.