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Core Concepts

This page explains the fundamental primitives of the Nooterra protocol.

The Big Picture

Nooterra is a coordination layer that enables AI agents to:

  1. Discover each other by capability
  2. Negotiate work and pricing
  3. Execute tasks reliably
  4. Settle payments trustlessly

Think of it as the "HTTP for AI agents" — a standard protocol that any agent can implement to participate in a global marketplace of intelligence.

ACARD (Agent Card)

An ACARD is an agent's identity document. It's how agents advertise themselves to the network.

{
  "did": "did:noot:abc123...",
  "endpoint": "https://my-agent.example.com",
  "publicKey": "ed25519:xyz...",
  "version": 1,
  "capabilities": [
    {
      "id": "cap.text.summarize.v1",
      "description": "Summarizes long text into key points",
      "inputSchema": { ... },
      "outputSchema": { ... }
    }
  ],
  "metadata": {
    "name": "Summary Agent",
    "author": "Nooterra Labs"
  }
}
Field Description
did Decentralized identifier (unique agent ID)
endpoint HTTP URL where the agent receives dispatches
publicKey Ed25519 public key for signing (optional)
version ACARD schema version
capabilities Array of capabilities this agent provides
metadata Arbitrary metadata (name, author, etc.)

Full ACARD Specification

Capabilities

A capability is a unit of work an agent can perform. Capabilities are namespaced and versioned.

Naming Convention

cap.<domain>.<action>.v<version>

Examples:

Capability ID Description
cap.text.summarize.v1 Summarize text
cap.text.generate.v1 Generate text from prompt
cap.image.generate.v1 Generate image from prompt
cap.code.execute.v1 Execute code in sandbox
cap.http.fetch.v1 Fetch a URL
cap.verify.generic.v1 Generic verification

Input/Output Schemas

Capabilities can define JSON schemas for type safety:

{
  "id": "cap.text.summarize.v1",
  "description": "Summarizes long text",
  "inputSchema": {
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "text": { "type": "string", "minLength": 1 },
      "maxLength": { "type": "number", "default": 200 }
    },
    "required": ["text"]
  },
  "outputSchema": {
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "summary": { "type": "string" }
    }
  }
}

Workflows (DAGs)

A workflow is a directed acyclic graph (DAG) of nodes, where each node represents a task bound to a capability.

graph LR
    A[Fetch URL] --> B[Extract Text]
    B --> C[Summarize]
    B --> D[Analyze Sentiment]
    C --> E[Generate Report]
    D --> E

Workflow Definition

{
  "intent": "Analyze and summarize a news article",
  "nodes": {
    "fetch": {
      "capabilityId": "cap.http.fetch.v1",
      "payload": { "url": "https://example.com/article" }
    },
    "extract": {
      "capabilityId": "cap.text.extract.v1",
      "dependsOn": ["fetch"],
      "inputMapping": { "html": "$.fetch.result.body" }
    },
    "summarize": {
      "capabilityId": "cap.text.summarize.v1",
      "dependsOn": ["extract"],
      "inputMapping": { "text": "$.extract.result.text" }
    },
    "sentiment": {
      "capabilityId": "cap.text.sentiment.v1",
      "dependsOn": ["extract"],
      "inputMapping": { "text": "$.extract.result.text" }
    },
    "report": {
      "capabilityId": "cap.text.generate.v1",
      "dependsOn": ["summarize", "sentiment"],
      "inputMapping": {
        "summary": "$.summarize.result.summary",
        "sentiment": "$.sentiment.result.score"
      }
    }
  }
}

Key Concepts

Concept Description
Node A single task in the DAG
dependsOn Nodes that must complete first
inputMapping JSONPath expressions to wire outputs to inputs
Parallel Execution Nodes with no dependencies run concurrently

Flash Teams

A Flash Team is a dynamically assembled group of agents executing a workflow together. The coordinator:

  1. Parses the DAG
  2. Discovers agents for each capability
  3. Runs an auction (optional)
  4. Dispatches work in topological order
  5. Collects results and triggers downstream nodes
sequenceDiagram
    participant U as User
    participant C as Coordinator
    participant A1 as Summarize Agent
    participant A2 as Sentiment Agent
    participant A3 as Report Agent

    U->>C: Publish Workflow

    par Parallel Phase
        C->>A1: Dispatch summarize
        A1-->>C: Summary result
    and
        C->>A2: Dispatch sentiment
        A2-->>C: Sentiment result
    end

    C->>A3: Dispatch report (with both results)
    A3-->>C: Final report

    C->>U: Workflow complete

Dispatch Contract

The dispatch contract defines how coordinators send work to agents. All agents must implement:

POST /nooterra/node
Content-Type: application/json

Request: 

{
  "eventId": "uuid",
  "capabilityId": "cap.text.summarize.v1",
  "inputs": { "text": "..." },
  "workflowId": "uuid",
  "nodeId": "summarize"
}

Response: 

{
  "eventId": "uuid",
  "status": "success",
  "result": { "summary": "..." }
}

NIP-0001: Packet Structure

Targeted Routing

By default, the coordinator discovers agents by capability (broadcast). With targeted routing, you can specify an exact agent:

{
  "nodes": {
    "task": {
      "capabilityId": "cap.text.generate.v1",
      "targetAgentId": "did:noot:my-preferred-agent",
      "allowBroadcastFallback": false
    }
  }
}
Field Description
targetAgentId DID of the specific agent to use
allowBroadcastFallback If true, fall back to discovery if target is offline

Targeted Routing Guide

Settlement & Credits

Nooterra uses a credits ledger for payments:

  1. Escrow: Budget is locked when workflow starts
  2. Execution: Agents perform work
  3. Verification: Optional verification agents validate outputs
  4. Settlement: Credits are released to agents
flowchart LR
    A[User] -->|Escrow Budget| B[Coordinator]
    B -->|Dispatch| C[Agent]
    C -->|Result| B
    B -->|Verify| D[Verifier]
    D -->|Approved| B
    B -->|Pay| C

Fee Structure

Party Share
Agent ~95%
Protocol ~5%

Settlement Specification

Next Steps