Creativity · Agent Protocol
Multi-Agent Interoperability — an overview
Multi-agent interoperability — how agents built by different teams find, trust, and delegate to each other — is where the frontier-AI ecosystem is consolidating in 2026. Multiple proposals compete: Google's A2A, the Agent Network Protocol (ANP), Microsoft / OpenAI's emerging agent runtime layer, and MCP sitting one level down as the tool-access standard.
Protocol facts
- Sponsor
- Industry (Google, Microsoft, Anthropic, open community)
- Status
- proposed
- Interop with
- A2A, ANP, NLWeb, MCP
Frequently asked questions
Why so many agent protocols?
The space is early. Different vendors are solving different parts — capability discovery, task handoff, authentication, payment — and converging through open specs and cross-implementation interop testing. Expect consolidation by late 2026 / 2027.
Should I pick one agent protocol today?
Yes, but choose with interop in mind. A2A has the most industry participation as of April 2026. Design your agent so its capability surface could be exposed via A2A today and ANP or others later through adapters.
Sources
- Google — A2A — accessed 2026-04-20
- Agent Network Protocol (ANP) — accessed 2026-04-20