trust-systems-meta-model

A2A Crosswalk

This crosswalk records how A2A-class concepts generalize into TSMM. The purpose is governance interoperability: make agent interaction patterns comparable, testable, and auditable across ecosystems.

Core crosswalk

A2A concept TSMM concept Governance interpretation
Agent Card Service Descriptor Capability disclosure artifact whose visibility and integrity can be governed
Authenticated extended Agent Card Discovery Governance + Service Descriptor Conditional descriptor disclosure after authentication/authorization
Skill Skill Contract Advertised capability with modes, examples, tags, and authorization expectations
Extension URI Extension Contract Versioned optional or required behavior negotiated before use
Required extension Capability Negotiation Missing required extension creates denial or review condition
Task Interaction Task Trackable unit of work with governance-relevant state
input-required Authorization Checkpoint or interaction checkpoint Missing fact or input boundary requiring evidence
auth-required Authorization Checkpoint Authority boundary requiring scoped credential or approval
Message Interaction communication Communication object; not automatically audit evidence
Artifact Evidence Artifact / output artifact Output bound to task, provenance, and evidence obligations
Streaming Observability Mode Higher replay and audit considerations
Push notification Observability Mode Out-of-band event delivery requiring subscriber and delivery evidence
Opaque agent internals Opacity Boundary Hidden tools/state/memory require compensating controls

v0.19.0 generalized additions

TSMM v0.19.0 adds three A2A-derived but protocol-neutral surfaces:

  1. Discovery Governance for descriptor source, access, freshness, integrity, trust basis, and failure behavior.
  2. Capability Negotiation for modes, required extensions, policy scope, negotiation outcome, and evidence references.
  3. Task Evidence Lifecycle for state-transition evidence and auditability.

Boundary rule

A2A defines interaction mechanics. TSMM defines governance semantics. A system can be protocol-correct and still be governance-incomplete if it cannot evidence descriptor integrity, capability authorization, task transition accountability, or relying-party impact.