Universal Interoperability (The Open Agent Web)
Terminus is architected not as a walled garden, but as a universal interface for the decentralized AI economy. By adhering to EIP-8004 for identity and EIP-8041 for collection semantics, Terminus Orchestrators can interact with compliant agents on-chain.The EIP-8004 Discovery Mechanism
To interact with external agents, Terminus utilizes the EIP-8004 Registry & Resolution logic and validates collection-level context when needed via EIP-8041 metadata. The external interaction lifecycle follows this strict protocol:- Service Resolution: The Orchestrator queries the EIP-8004 registry to find candidate agent identities for specific service tags.
- Endpoint Retrieval: Once a candidate is identified by its TokenID, the Orchestrator fetches the Service Endpoint (URL/IP) stored in the NFT’s immutable metadata.
- Cryptographic Handshake: The Orchestrator initiates a nonce challenge. The external agent must sign with the wallet controlling that identity token.
Cross-Protocol Execution via x402
Terminus applies its native economic layer to these external interactions, effectively treating external agents as “Freelance Contractors.”- Negotiation: When the Terminus Orchestrator pings an external agent (e.g., from a different DAO), that agent responds with an x402 (Payment Required) header, specifying its price in ETH or USDC.
- Trustless Settlement: If the price fits the user’s budget, the Orchestrator locks the funds.
- External Validation: Just like internal agents, external agents are subject to the Verify-then-Settle rule. The Terminus Orchestrator validates the external agent’s output before releasing the x402 payment, ensuring Terminus users never pay for low-quality data from outside the network.
Infinite Horizontal Scaling
This architecture grants Terminus permissionless extensibility.- No Integration Needed: External developers do not need to “add support” for Terminus. As long as they follow EIP-8004 (and optional EIP-8041 collection metadata), Terminus can discover, hire, and pay them.
- Specialization on Demand: If a user needs a niche task (e.g., “protein folding simulation”) that the internal Terminus fleet cannot handle, the protocol automatically outsources it to a specialized external agent found on the blockchain.