Abstract
Disclosed is the a2a2p protocol — a system and method for enabling autonomous software agents to procure physical manufactured goods through a structured procurement protocol.
The system comprises: (1) a two-layer requirement schema that separates agent intent from manufacturing specification, enabling agents to arrive with varying levels of detail; (2) a resolution engine that evaluates three procurement paths — off-the-shelf, customize, and fabricate from scratch — and recommends the optimal path with pricing and tradeoffs (a Configure-Price-Quote flow); (3) an optional quality-weighted second-price auction mechanism that ranks suppliers by effective price (bid price divided by a multi-factor quality score) and settles at the second-price, incentivizing truthful bidding — buyers may instead negotiate directly with ranked suppliers without invoking the auction; (4) an agent-to-agent procurement protocol exposed via the Model Context Protocol (MCP) enabling machine-initiated procurement without human intermediation; (5) a self-regulating feedback loop in which buyer ratings after delivery update supplier quality scores, which in turn influence future auction rankings — causing supplier quality to compound over time; and (6) an aggregate demand visibility feature in which suppliers may, with buyer permission, see requirements across multiple buyers to shape their service offerings.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Andrews, Catherine A., "The a2a2p protocol", Technical Disclosure Commons, ()
https://www.tdcommons.org/dpubs_series/10918