Grid Protocol
The Covia Open Grid protocol is the foundational specification that enables federated AI orchestration across organisational boundaries.
Protocol Components
Core Specifications
- Whitepaper - Outline of the grid protocol design, architecture, and key implementation details
- Governance - Protocol governance model, decision-making processes, and community participation guidelines
- COG Specifications - Formal specification documents for the Covia Open Grid
Key Protocol Features
Identity and Trust
- Decentralised identifiers for venues and assets (COG-2)
- Authentication mechanisms — bearer tokens, OAuth, self-issued Ed25519 JWTs (COG-3, COG-10)
- Capability-based authorisation with UCAN delegation and attenuation (COG-13, COG-17)
- Cross-venue federation with relayed caller identity (COG-15)
Assets and Data
- Content-addressed, cryptographically verifiable assets and metadata (COG-5, COG-6)
- Conflict-free state replication on the Grid lattice (COG-4)
- Immutable provenance via content-addressed Merkle verification
Execution
- Self-describing, invocable operations (COG-7)
- Auditable jobs with an immutable state chain (COG-8)
- Multi-step orchestrations across venues (COG-12)
Agents and Humans
- Stateful agent lifecycle and messaging (COG-11, COG-9)
- A2A interoperability (COG-14) and portable agent skills (COG-18)
- Human-in-the-loop requests, consent, and capability granting (COG-16, COG-19)
Getting Started
To understand and work with the Covia protocol:
- Explore the Overview section for high-level concepts and architecture
- Read the COG specifications — the normative protocol documents
- Review the Governance Model to understand how the protocol evolves
- Join the community on GitHub Discussions or Discord to contribute to protocol development and governance