Your Agent’s Marketplace Name Is Not Its Identity
An agent marketplace identity is not the same as an agent's portable identity. A marketplace name is a listing label inside one platform; a .agent record can act as the canonical, machine-readable source that agents inspect across directories, apps, APIs, and commerce workflows.
Marketplace titles, profile handles, app names, category labels, and directory aliases are useful discovery clues. They are also platform-scoped and editable. For HeadlessDomains.com, the stronger pattern is to claim a .agent name, connect agent.json, SKILL.md, llms.txt, endpoints, and proof links, then reference that record from every listing.
Comparison Table
| Surface | What it helps users do | What can change | Canonical anchor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketplace display name | Recognize a listed agent in one catalog | Title, icon, category, ranking, and platform rules | Link to the agent's .agent record |
| Profile handle | Find the publisher or workspace account | Account owner, handle policy, verification badge, and billing route | agent.json with operator and proof links |
| App title or directory alias | Package the agent for search, browsing, and installation | Store taxonomy, localization, duplicate names, and review status | SKILL.md, llms.txt, and canonical profile URL |
| Callable endpoint | Let another agent call tools or request work | API host, MCP server, A2A interface, auth provider, and version | Machine-readable endpoints attached to .agent |
| Payment or checkout profile | Let buyers or agents pay for access | Price, payment rail, receipt policy, and dispute route | Payment metadata and owner contact in the record |
Marketplace Names Are Discovery Labels
A marketplace listing is helpful because humans can browse it and agents can inspect its summary. OpenAI's GPT publishing documentation says a published GPT surface may include a name, icon, description, category, capabilities, conversation starters, ratings, and builder profile details. That is useful presentation metadata, but it stays inside the platform that displays it.
The risk is treating that presentation layer as the agent's whole identity. A title can be renamed. A profile can move. A directory can create duplicate aliases. A marketplace can change categories or remove a listing. None of those events should break the public identity that other agents, APIs, merchants, and governance teams rely on.
A Canonical Record Travels With the Agent
A portable .agent record gives every listing one external source to cite. The record can declare the canonical name, operator, manifest, skill file, documentation map, auth model, endpoint URLs, proof links, payment metadata, and review status. Listings can still have friendly names, but verifiers can follow the same canonical path.
This fits the direction of agent infrastructure. The A2A specification uses Agent Cards to expose provider information, supported interfaces, skills, capabilities, and service URLs. MCP authorization uses protected resource metadata and audience-specific tokens. Microsoft Entra Agent ID frames agents as nonhuman identities that require authentication, authorization, and governance controls. All of those patterns benefit from stable records, not only store names.
Implementation Checklist
- Claim a .agent identity before broad marketplace distribution.
- Publish
agent.jsonwith canonical name, operator, purpose, owner contact, endpoints, auth model, proof links, payment metadata, and status. - Publish
SKILL.mdfor the workflows another agent should follow. - Publish
llms.txtas a curated map to docs, policies, source pages, and support routes. - Attach OpenAPI, MCP, and A2A Agent Card URLs when the agent exposes callable interfaces.
- Link the same .agent record from every marketplace listing, app profile, directory page, README, and docs page.
- Keep marketplace names as user-facing labels, not the canonical source of truth.
- Monitor duplicate names, stale profiles, old endpoints, and cloned listings.
Example Portable Record
{"canonical_name":"atlas.agent","operator":"Atlas Research","marketplace_listings":["https://marketplace.example/listings/atlas-research-agent"],"identity":{"agent_json":"https://atlas.agent/.well-known/agent.json","skill_md":"https://atlas.agent/SKILL.md","llms_txt":"https://atlas.agent/llms.txt","profile":"https://agents.headlessdomains.com/atlas.agent"},"interfaces":{"openapi":"https://api.atlas.agent/openapi.json","mcp":"https://api.atlas.agent/mcp","a2a_agent_card":"https://atlas.agent/.well-known/agent-card.json"},"governance":{"status":"active","reviewed_at":"2026-05-21","contact":"security@example.com"}}Where HeadlessDomains.com Fits
HeadlessDomains.com gives agent listings a portable inspection layer. A .agent name can connect agent.json, SKILL.md, llms.txt, TXT records, MCP, OpenAPI, A2A endpoints, payment metadata, and proof links through CLI and API workflows used by agents. Browser display is only a human experience layer; the headless record is useful before any browser page renders.
Claim a .agent before your first marketplace launch, then point each listing back to that record. The listing can win attention, while the .agent record carries the canonical identity other agents can verify before calling tools, delegating work, or sending payment.
Learn More
- The Agent Identity Stack
- Canonical Identity for AI Agents
- What Is Agent Identity?
- agent.json Examples for Public AI Agent Identity
- What Is an Agent Directory?
- AI Agent Name Collision
FAQ
What is agent marketplace identity?
Agent marketplace identity is the name, profile, listing page, category, rating, and publisher metadata an agent receives inside a marketplace or directory.
Why is a marketplace name not enough for an AI agent?
A marketplace name is scoped to one platform. A portable agent identity should persist across listings, docs, endpoints, payment rails, and partner workflows, so verifiers have one canonical record to inspect.
What should a .agent record contain?
A .agent record should point to agent.json, SKILL.md, llms.txt, proof links, endpoints, auth metadata, payment metadata, owner contact, status, and review information.
Can one agent keep several marketplace listings?
Yes. One agent can appear in several catalogs, app stores, directories, or partner portals. Each listing should link back to the same .agent record so duplicate labels do not fragment identity.
Does this require browser-native DNS resolution?
No. Headless Domains names are headless and work through CLI and API workflows for agents. Browser resolution is only a conventional human user-experience layer, not a requirement for agent use.
Should FAQ schema still be included?
Include FAQ schema when the same questions and answers are visible on the page and useful for machine parsing, but do not treat it as a Google rich-result shortcut. Google deprecated FAQ rich results for most sites as of May 7, 2026.