This ERC defines a Trust Registry that enables agents to establish and query transitive trust relationships using ENS names as identifiers. Trust is expressed at four levels (Unknown, None, Marginal, Full) and propagates through signature chains following the OpenPGP web of trust model described in RFC 4880.
The registry serves as the trust and delegation module anticipated by ERC-8001, enabling coordinators to gate participation based on trust graph proximity. An agent is considered valid from a coordinator's perspective if sufficient trust paths exist between them.
This standard specifies trust attestation structures, the path verification algorithm, ENS integration semantics, and ERC-8001 coordination hooks.
ERC-8001 defines minimal primitives for multi-party agent coordination and defers everything above them, including reputation, to modules. Its Security Considerations name the gap directly:
"Equivocation: A participant can sign conflicting intents. Mitigate with module-level slashing or reputation."
and its Motivation sets the boundary:
"Privacy, thresholds, bonding, and cross-chain are left to modules."
This ERC provides that trust and delegation module. Before coordinating, agents need answers to:
The web of trust model, standardised in RFC 4880 and proven over 25+ years of deployment, solves the bootstrap problem: how do you establish trust with unknown agents without a centralised registrar?
| OpenPGP Concept | This Standard |
|---|---|
| Public key | ENS name |
| Key signing | Trust attestation |
| Owner trust levels | TrustLevel enum |
| Key validity | Agent validity for coordination |
| Certification path | Trust chain through agents |
ENS provides a battle-tested, finalised identity layer:
owner() and isApprovedForAll()alice.agents.eth not 0x742d...)Using ENS avoids dependency on draft identity standards while remaining compatible with future standards through adapter patterns.
Deployment note: This standard requires access to an ENS registry. On Ethereum mainnet, use the canonical ENS deployment. On other networks, use network-specific ENS deployments or bridges. Implementations also take the network's NameWrapper address, or the zero address where no NameWrapper is deployed. CCIP-Read (ERC-3668) is a client-side mechanism and cannot be used for on-chain validation, so agents relying on on-chain identity gates need an on-chain resolver.
ENS names are the identity. When an ENS name is transferred, the new owner inherits existing trust relationships where that name is the trustee, and can manage trust where that name is the trustor. Short attestation expiries bound the exposure this creates; the Specification states the requirements under Identity Continuity.
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 and RFC 8174.
This ERC specifies:
ITrustRegistry interface, discoverable via ERC-165Implementations MUST use the canonical enum:
enum TrustLevel {
Unknown, // 0: No trust relationship established
None, // 1: Explicitly distrusted
Marginal, // 2: Partial trust — multiple required for validation
Full // 3: Complete trust — single attestation sufficient
}
Semantic definitions:
| Level | Meaning | Validation Contribution |
|---|---|---|
Unknown |
Default state; no data about agent | Cannot contribute to validation |
None |
Agent known to behave improperly | Explicitly excluded; voids trust paths containing this agent |
Marginal |
Agent generally trustworthy | Contributes to validation when minEdgeTrust <= Marginal |
Full |
Agent's judgment equals own verification | Always contributes to validation |
Level transitions:
Attestations grant trust; revocations withdraw it. Each level has exactly one way to reach it:
Marginal and Full are reached only by a valid attestation with a higher nonceNone is reached only by revokeTrust or revokeTrustBatchUnknown is the default and cannot be reassigned; a relationship, once created, is
never removed from storagesetTrust therefore MUST reject attestations whose level is Unknown or None, and
revocation is not permanent: a later attestation with a higher nonce restores trust from
None to Marginal or Full.
The Trust Registry uses ENS namehashes as agent identifiers.
// ENS namehash computation (per ERC-137)
bytes32 node = keccak256(abi.encodePacked(
keccak256(abi.encodePacked(bytes32(0), keccak256("eth"))),
keccak256("alice")
));
// node = namehash("alice.eth")
The registry reads three external contracts:
interface IENS {
function owner(bytes32 node) external view returns (address);
function resolver(bytes32 node) external view returns (address);
function isApprovedForAll(address owner, address operator) external view returns (bool);
}
/// @dev NameWrapper is an ERC-1155; the token holder is the real name controller
interface INameWrapper {
function ownerOf(uint256 id) external view returns (address);
function isApprovedForAll(address owner, address operator) external view returns (bool);
}
interface IAddrResolver {
function addr(bytes32 node) external view returns (address payable);
}
ens.owner(node) returns the registry controller. For wrapped names that controller
is the NameWrapper contract rather than the party actually controlling the name.
NameWrapper does not implement ERC-1271, so treating it as the signing
authority would leave every wrapped name unable to attest.
Implementations MUST resolve the controller as follows:
function controllerOf(bytes32 node) internal view returns (address) {
address owner = ens.owner(node);
if (owner == address(0)) return address(0);
// Wrapped name: the ERC-1155 holder is the real controller
if (nameWrapper != address(0) && owner == nameWrapper) {
try INameWrapper(nameWrapper).ownerOf(uint256(node)) returns (address wrapped) {
return wrapped; // address(0) once the wrapped name expires
} catch {
return address(0);
}
}
return owner;
}
Wherever this standard refers to "the ENS name owner", it means controllerOf(node).
Implementations MUST pin the nameWrapper address at deployment, and MUST NOT allow it
to be changed afterwards: a registry pointed at a hostile contract in that slot would let
it claim control of every wrapped name. Implementations deployed on networks with no
NameWrapper deployment MUST set nameWrapper to the zero address, which disables
unwrapping.
ERC-8001 identifies participants by address (address[] participants),
while this registry identifies agents by ENS namehash. The binding between the two is
the node's forward address record (ERC-137):
function resolveAgent(bytes32 node) public view returns (address) {
address resolver = ens.resolver(node);
if (resolver == address(0)) return address(0);
try IAddrResolver(resolver).addr(node) returns (address payable agent) {
return agent;
} catch {
return address(0);
}
}
An address a is bound to node n if and only if resolveAgent(n) == a and
a != address(0). No separate registration step is required: the addr record is
already the controller's authoritative statement of which address the name denotes.
Resolution is a verification primitive, not a search. Callers supply the node as the
terminal element of a TrustPath and the registry confirms that it resolves to the
participant address. This standard does not use reverse resolution, which is
self-asserted and would require on-chain string handling to verify.
Nodes served by an off-chain resolver (CCIP-Read) cannot be resolved during on-chain
validation: addr reverts and resolveAgent returns the zero address. Agents that need
to pass on-chain identity gates MUST publish an on-chain addr record.
The ENS name, not the key behind it, is the identity. When a name is transferred, the new controller inherits every attestation naming it as trustee, and gains authority over every attestation in which it is the trustor.
Attestations covering high-stakes scopes SHOULD carry short expiries (RECOMMENDED: 90
days maximum), so that a transfer cannot carry inherited trust forward indefinitely.
Agents SHOULD monitor Transfer events on ENS names they trust and re-evaluate trust
when a trusted name changes hands.
Trust attestations MUST be signed by an address with signing authority for the ENS name.
Signing authority is limited to:
controllerOf(node), which unwraps NameWrapper names), ORTransaction submission is governed by the following authority model. "Approved
operator" means an address for which isApprovedForAll returns true on whichever
contract holds the name, per canSubmitRevocation.
| Operation | Controller | Approved operator | Any address |
|---|---|---|---|
setTrust, setTrustBatch |
signs | no | MAY submit a valid signature |
revokeTrust, revokeTrustBatch |
MAY call | MAY call | no |
invalidateNonces |
MAY call | MUST NOT | no |
setIdentityGate, removeIdentityGate |
keyed by msg.sender; no ENS authority involved |
Approved operators MAY perform relationship revocation because its effect is bounded
to one (trustorNode, trusteeNode) pair and the scopes named in the call.
Approved operators MUST NOT call invalidateNonces. Its blast radius is trustor-wide:
raising the nonce floor invalidates every attestation the trustor has signed but not yet
submitted, for every trustee and every scope. isApprovedForAll is a broad, long-lived
approval granted for ENS name management, and treating it as authority to void an
agent's entire outstanding attestation set is an escalation the name owner did not
knowingly grant.
This separation ensures:
/// @dev Verify signature - signing authority is the name controller only
function verifySignature(
bytes32 node,
bytes32 digest,
bytes calldata signature
) internal view returns (bool) {
address controller = controllerOf(node); // unwraps NameWrapper names
if (controller == address(0)) return false;
// EOA controller
if (controller.code.length == 0) {
return ECDSA.recover(digest, signature) == controller;
}
// Contract controller - delegate to EIP-1271
try IERC1271(controller).isValidSignature(digest, signature) returns (bytes4 magic) {
return magic == IERC1271.isValidSignature.selector;
} catch {
return false;
}
}
/// @dev Check if caller can submit a revokeTrust transaction
function canSubmitRevocation(bytes32 node, address caller) internal view returns (bool) {
address controller = controllerOf(node);
if (controller == address(0)) return false;
if (caller == controller) return true;
// Approvals live on whichever contract actually holds the name
if (nameWrapper != address(0) && ens.owner(node) == nameWrapper) {
return INameWrapper(nameWrapper).isApprovedForAll(controller, caller);
}
return ens.isApprovedForAll(controller, caller);
}
A wrapped name whose registration has expired resolves to address(0) and therefore has
no signing authority, matching the behaviour of an unregistered name.
Implementations MUST use the following EIP-712 domain:
EIP712Domain({
name: "TrustRegistry",
version: "1",
chainId: block.chainid,
verifyingContract: address(this)
})
Implementations SHOULD expose the domain via ERC-5267.
struct TrustAttestation {
bytes32 trustorNode; // ENS namehash of trustor
bytes32 trusteeNode; // ENS namehash of trustee
TrustLevel level; // Trust level assigned
bytes32 scope; // Scope restriction; bytes32(0) = universal
uint64 expiry; // Unix timestamp; 0 = no expiry
uint64 nonce; // Per-trustor monotonic nonce
}
struct ValidationParams {
uint8 maxPathLength; // Maximum trust chain depth (1-10)
TrustLevel minEdgeTrust; // Minimum trust level required on each edge
bytes32 scope; // Scope to verify against; bytes32(0) = universal
bool enforceExpiry; // Check expiry on all chain elements
bytes32[] requiredAnchors; // Path MUST traverse at least one anchor; empty = no requirement
}
struct TrustPath {
bytes32[] nodes; // [validator, ...intermediaries..., target]
}
Path length definition: Path length is the number of edges (trust relationships) in the path. A direct trust relationship has path length 1. A path [A, B, C] has length 2.
When not specified, implementations SHOULD use:
ValidationParams({
maxPathLength: 5,
minEdgeTrust: TrustLevel.Marginal,
scope: bytes32(0),
enforceExpiry: true,
requiredAnchors: new bytes32[](0)
})
Implementations MUST reject ValidationParams where:
| Condition | Error |
|---|---|
maxPathLength == 0 or maxPathLength > 10 |
InvalidMaxPathLength |
minEdgeTrust == TrustLevel.Unknown or minEdgeTrust == TrustLevel.None |
InvalidMinEdgeTrust |
requiredAnchors.length > 10 |
TooManyRequiredAnchors |
Both verifyPath and setIdentityGate MUST apply these constraints, through a shared
routine, before the parameters are used.
bytes32 constant TRUST_ATTESTATION_TYPEHASH = keccak256(
"TrustAttestation(bytes32 trustorNode,bytes32 trusteeNode,uint8 level,bytes32 scope,uint64 expiry,uint64 nonce)"
);
function hashAttestation(TrustAttestation calldata att) internal pure returns (bytes32) {
return keccak256(abi.encode(
TRUST_ATTESTATION_TYPEHASH,
att.trustorNode,
att.trusteeNode,
uint8(att.level),
att.scope,
att.expiry,
att.nonce
));
}
Implementations MUST expose the following interface:
interface ITrustRegistry is IERC165 {
// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
// Events
// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
/// @notice Emitted when trust is set or updated
event TrustSet(
bytes32 indexed trustorNode,
bytes32 indexed trusteeNode,
TrustLevel level,
bytes32 indexed scope,
uint64 expiry
);
/// @notice Emitted when trust is explicitly revoked
event TrustRevoked(
bytes32 indexed trustorNode,
bytes32 indexed trusteeNode,
bytes32 indexed scope,
bytes32 reasonCode
);
/// @notice Emitted when a trustor invalidates outstanding attestations
event NoncesInvalidated(bytes32 indexed trustorNode, uint64 newNonce);
/// @notice Emitted when an identity gate is configured
/// @dev Carries the complete ValidationParams so indexers can reconstruct gate
/// configuration from logs alone
event IdentityGateSet(
address indexed coordinator,
bytes32 indexed coordinationType,
bytes32 indexed gatekeeperNode,
uint8 maxPathLength,
TrustLevel minEdgeTrust,
bytes32 scope,
bool enforceExpiry,
bytes32[] requiredAnchors
);
/// @notice Emitted when an identity gate is removed
event IdentityGateRemoved(address indexed coordinator, bytes32 indexed coordinationType);
// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
// Trust Management
// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
/// @notice Set trust level for another agent in a specific scope
/// @dev Signature MUST be from ENS owner (EOA) or validate via EIP-1271 (contract)
/// @param attestation The trust attestation
/// @param signature EIP-712 signature from trustor's ENS owner
function setTrust(
TrustAttestation calldata attestation,
bytes calldata signature
) external;
/// @notice Batch set multiple trust relationships
/// @dev All attestations MUST share the same trustorNode
/// @param attestations Array of trust attestations
/// @param signatures Corresponding signatures
function setTrustBatch(
TrustAttestation[] calldata attestations,
bytes[] calldata signatures
) external;
/// @notice Revoke trust (sets level to None)
/// @dev Caller MUST be ENS owner or approved operator
/// @param trustorNode The trustor's ENS namehash
/// @param trusteeNode The agent to revoke trust from
/// @param scope The scope to revoke trust in
/// @param reasonCode Reason code for revocation
function revokeTrust(
bytes32 trustorNode,
bytes32 trusteeNode,
bytes32 scope,
bytes32 reasonCode
) external;
/// @notice Revoke trust across several scopes in one transaction
/// @dev Caller MUST be name controller or approved operator. Scopes are supplied
/// by the caller; this standard does not enumerate them on-chain.
/// @param trustorNode The trustor's ENS namehash
/// @param trusteeNode The agent to revoke trust from
/// @param scopes The scopes to revoke trust in
/// @param reasonCode Reason code for revocation
function revokeTrustBatch(
bytes32 trustorNode,
bytes32 trusteeNode,
bytes32[] calldata scopes,
bytes32 reasonCode
) external;
/// @notice Invalidate every outstanding attestation below a nonce
/// @dev Caller MUST be name controller or approved operator. Revocation alone does
/// NOT invalidate attestations the trustor already signed but has not yet
/// submitted; this does.
/// @param trustorNode The trustor's ENS namehash
/// @param newNonce The new nonce floor; MUST exceed the current nonce
function invalidateNonces(bytes32 trustorNode, uint64 newNonce) external;
/// @notice Get trust record between two agents in a specific scope
/// @param trustorNode The trusting agent
/// @param trusteeNode The trusted agent
/// @param scope The trust scope (bytes32(0) for universal)
/// @return level Current trust level
/// @return expiry Expiration timestamp (0 = never)
function getTrust(
bytes32 trustorNode,
bytes32 trusteeNode,
bytes32 scope
) external view returns (TrustLevel level, uint64 expiry);
/// @notice Get current nonce for a trustor
/// @param trustorNode The agent's ENS namehash
/// @return Current nonce value
function getNonce(bytes32 trustorNode) external view returns (uint64);
// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
// Path Verification
// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
/// @notice Verify a pre-computed trust path
/// @dev Returns true only if every edge check AND the requiredAnchors
/// constraint are satisfied. There is no partial success.
/// @param path The trust path to verify
/// @param params Validation parameters
/// @return valid Whether the path satisfies all validation requirements
function verifyPath(
TrustPath calldata path,
ValidationParams calldata params
) external view returns (bool valid);
// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
// ERC-8001 Integration
// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
/// @notice Set the identity gate for one of the caller's coordination types
/// @dev Stored under `(msg.sender, coordinationType)`. Callers own their own
/// namespace, so no cross-caller authorisation is needed and well-known
/// coordination type constants cannot be squatted.
/// @param coordinationType The ERC-8001 coordination type
/// @param gatekeeperNode Agent whose trust graph gates entry
/// @param params Validation parameters for the gate
function setIdentityGate(
bytes32 coordinationType,
bytes32 gatekeeperNode,
ValidationParams calldata params
) external;
/// @notice Remove the caller's identity gate for a coordination type
/// @param coordinationType The ERC-8001 coordination type
function removeIdentityGate(bytes32 coordinationType) external;
/// @notice Get identity gate configuration
/// @param coordinator The address that registered the gate
/// @param coordinationType The ERC-8001 coordination type
/// @return gatekeeperNode The gatekeeper agent
/// @return params Validation parameters
/// @return enabled Whether the gate is active
function getIdentityGate(
address coordinator,
bytes32 coordinationType
) external view returns (
bytes32 gatekeeperNode,
ValidationParams memory params,
bool enabled
);
/// @notice Resolve the agent address bound to an ENS node
/// @param node The agent's ENS namehash
/// @return agent The node's forward address record, or address(0) if unset
function resolveAgent(bytes32 node) external view returns (address agent);
/// @notice Validate a participant identified by ENS node
/// @param coordinator The address that registered the gate
/// @param coordinationType The ERC-8001 coordination type
/// @param participantNode The agent being gated
/// @param path Pre-computed trust path from gatekeeper to participantNode
/// @return isValid Whether participant passes the gate
function validateParticipantWithPath(
address coordinator,
bytes32 coordinationType,
bytes32 participantNode,
TrustPath calldata path
) external view returns (bool isValid);
/// @notice Validate an ERC-8001 participant identified by address
/// @dev The terminal node of `path` MUST resolve to `participant`. This is the
/// hook an ERC-8001 coordinator calls for each entry in `participants`.
/// @param coordinator The address that registered the gate
/// @param coordinationType The ERC-8001 coordination type
/// @param participant The participant address taken from the ERC-8001 intent
/// @param path Pre-computed trust path from gatekeeper to the participant's node
/// @return isValid Whether participant passes the gate
function validateParticipantAddress(
address coordinator,
bytes32 coordinationType,
address participant,
TrustPath calldata path
) external view returns (bool isValid);
}
The following functions are OPTIONAL. Implementations MAY include them but they are not required for compliance:
interface ITrustRegistryExtended is ITrustRegistry {
/// @notice Get agents trusted by a given agent (paginated)
/// @dev OPTIONAL - useful for indexing but not required
function getTrustees(
bytes32 trustorNode,
TrustLevel minLevel,
bytes32 scope,
uint256 offset,
uint256 limit
) external view returns (bytes32[] memory trustees, uint256 total);
/// @notice Get agents that trust a given agent (paginated)
/// @dev OPTIONAL - useful for indexing but not required
function getTrustors(
bytes32 trusteeNode,
TrustLevel minLevel,
bytes32 scope,
uint256 offset,
uint256 limit
) external view returns (bytes32[] memory trustors, uint256 total);
/// @notice Validate an agent through on-chain graph traversal
/// @dev OPTIONAL - expensive, prefer off-chain computation with verifyPath
/// @param validatorNode The validating agent's perspective
/// @param targetNode The agent to validate
/// @param params Validation parameters
/// @param marginalThreshold Number of marginal attestations required (for accumulation)
/// @param fullThreshold Number of full attestations required
function validateAgent(
bytes32 validatorNode,
bytes32 targetNode,
ValidationParams calldata params,
uint8 marginalThreshold,
uint8 fullThreshold
) external view returns (
bool isValid,
uint8 pathLength,
uint8 marginalCount,
uint8 fullCount
);
/// @notice Check if any trust path exists
/// @dev OPTIONAL - expensive, prefer off-chain computation
function pathExists(
bytes32 fromNode,
bytes32 toNode,
uint8 maxDepth
) external view returns (bool exists, uint8 depth);
/// @notice Validate participant without pre-computed path
/// @dev OPTIONAL - expensive, prefer validateParticipantWithPath
function validateParticipant(
address coordinator,
bytes32 coordinationType,
bytes32 participantNode,
uint8 marginalThreshold,
uint8 fullThreshold
) external view returns (bool isValid);
}
Implementations MUST implement ERC-165 and MUST return true from
supportsInterface for:
| Interface | Identifier |
|---|---|
IERC165 |
0x01ffc9a7 |
ITrustRegistry |
0x42b46ef5 |
An implementation that also provides the OPTIONAL extensions MUST return true for
ITrustRegistryExtended (0x93e686a3); one that does not MUST return false. This is
the mechanism by which a caller determines whether on-chain graph search is available
before attempting it.
Per ERC-165, supportsInterface MUST return false for 0xffffffff
and MUST use at most 30,000 gas.
ITrustRegistry's identifier is the XOR of the selectors of the fourteen functions
declared in this document, excluding the inherited supportsInterface, matching
Solidity's type(ITrustRegistry).interfaceId. ITrustRegistryExtended's identifier
covers only the five extension functions, likewise excluding everything it inherits.
Adding, removing, or changing the signature of any function in ITrustRegistry changes
its identifier. Implementations tracking a draft revision of this standard SHOULD
recompute rather than hard-code the constant.
setTrustsetTrust MUST revert if:
attestation.trustorNode == attestation.trusteeNode (self-trust prohibited)attestation.level is Unknown or None (distrust is expressed by revocation, not attestation)attestation.nonce <= getNonce(attestation.trustorNode)attestation.expiry != 0 && attestation.expiry <= block.timestamptrustorNode does not exist (owner is zero address)If valid:
(trustorNode, trusteeNode, scope)getNonce(trustorNode) MUST return the attestation's nonceTrustSet MUST be emittedsetTrustBatchsetTrustBatch MUST revert if:
attestations.length != signatures.lengthtrustorNode than the first attestationsetTrust validationNonces within the batch MUST be strictly increasing.
revokeTrustrevokeTrust sets explicit distrust. It is the only way to reach TrustLevel.None.
revokeTrust MUST revert if:
trustorNodeIf valid:
NoneTrustRevoked MUST be emittedA prior trust relationship is not required. A trustor MAY distrust an agent it never
trusted, which blocks paths that would otherwise route through that edge. Callers that
want to distinguish withdrawing trust from preemptive distrust MUST read getTrust
first; the registry does not make that distinction.
Revocation affects exactly one scope. It does not cascade to other scopes, and it
does not invalidate attestations the trustor has already signed but not yet
submitted. See revokeTrustBatch and invalidateNonces.
revokeTrustBatchrevokeTrustBatch applies revokeTrust to several scopes for the same
(trustorNode, trusteeNode) pair in a single transaction.
revokeTrustBatch MUST revert if:
trustorNodescopes is emptyIf valid, for each listed scope:
NoneTrustRevoked MUST be emittedBecause trust is keyed by (trustorNode, trusteeNode, scope), a trustor that has
granted trust in several scopes must name each one. Implementations MUST NOT enumerate
scopes on-chain; callers derive the list from TrustSet logs, which is the same
off-chain indexing this standard already assumes for path computation.
invalidateNoncesNonces are the only ordering this standard has between a signed attestation and a later
revocation. An attestation carries no signing timestamp, so an attestation signed at
nonce N remains submittable until the trustor's nonce reaches N, regardless of what
has been revoked in the meantime.
invalidateNonces lets a trustor raise that floor.
invalidateNonces MUST revert if:
trustorNode (approved operators are not
sufficient; see Signature Authority)newNonce <= getNonce(trustorNode)If valid:
getNonce(trustorNode) MUST return newNonceNoncesInvalidated MUST be emittedEvery attestation signed with a nonce at or below newNonce becomes permanently
unusable, whichever trustee or scope it names.
Trustors SHOULD issue nonces sequentially (getNonce(trustorNode) + 1) so that the
highest outstanding nonce is always known. Signing far ahead of the current nonce
creates attestations that stay submittable indefinitely.
To fully quarantine a compromised or misbehaving counterparty, a trustor SHOULD call
revokeTrustBatch for the affected scopes and invalidateNonces with a value above
any nonce it has ever signed. Revocation alone leaves pre-signed attestations able to
restore trust.
An approved operator can perform the first step but not the second, so a delegated quarantine requires the controller to complete it.
verifyPath — Path Verification AlgorithmverifyPath validates a pre-computed trust path.
verifyPath returns a single verdict. It MUST return false unless every
requirement is satisfied, including the requiredAnchors constraint. A path whose
edges all verify but which does not traverse a required anchor is not valid, and
implementations MUST NOT report it as such.
Parameter validation: verifyPath MUST reject ValidationParams that violate the
Validation Parameters Constraints before using them, through the same routine
setIdentityGate uses. This is a correctness requirement, not a courtesy: with
minEdgeTrust == TrustLevel.Unknown, the per-edge comparison level < minEdgeTrust can
never be true, so an unvalidated call would report a path with no trust at all as valid.
validateParticipantWithPath and validateParticipantAddress read parameters from a
stored gate rather than from the caller. Those parameters were validated when
setIdentityGate stored them, so those functions MAY skip revalidation; they MUST NOT
accept parameters from any other source.
Algorithm:
function verifyPath(
TrustPath calldata path,
ValidationParams calldata params
) external view returns (bool valid) {
// Parameters are validated BEFORE they are used. Skipping this would let
// minEdgeTrust == Unknown make every edge comparison vacuously pass.
requireValidParams(params);
// Path must have at least 2 nodes (validator and target)
if (path.nodes.length < 2) return false;
// Path length constraint (edges = nodes - 1)
if (path.nodes.length - 1 > params.maxPathLength) return false;
// Nodes MUST be distinct; a repeated node inflates length without adding trust.
// maxPathLength caps this at 11 nodes, so the quadratic scan is bounded.
for (uint256 i = 0; i < path.nodes.length; i++) {
for (uint256 j = i + 1; j < path.nodes.length; j++) {
if (path.nodes[i] == path.nodes[j]) return false;
}
}
// Track anchor satisfaction
bool foundAnchor = params.requiredAnchors.length == 0;
// Verify each edge
for (uint256 i = 0; i < path.nodes.length - 1; i++) {
// Try scoped trust first, fall back to universal
(TrustLevel level, uint64 expiry) = getTrust(
path.nodes[i],
path.nodes[i + 1],
params.scope
);
// Fall back to universal scope if scoped trust not found
if (level == TrustLevel.Unknown && params.scope != bytes32(0)) {
(level, expiry) = getTrust(
path.nodes[i],
path.nodes[i + 1],
bytes32(0)
);
}
// Edge must meet minimum trust level
if (level < params.minEdgeTrust) return false;
// None explicitly voids (even if minEdgeTrust is somehow None)
if (level == TrustLevel.None) return false;
// Expiry check
if (params.enforceExpiry && expiry != 0 && expiry <= block.timestamp) {
return false;
}
// Anchor check (intermediate nodes only, not first or last)
if (!foundAnchor && i > 0) {
for (uint256 j = 0; j < params.requiredAnchors.length; j++) {
if (path.nodes[i] == params.requiredAnchors[j]) {
foundAnchor = true;
break;
}
}
}
}
// Anchors are part of the verdict, not a separate advisory signal
return foundAnchor;
}
Node uniqueness: A path MUST NOT contain the same node twice. Repeated nodes cannot
manufacture trust, since every edge is still checked, but they inflate path length and
serve no purpose. maxPathLength bounds a path at 11 nodes, so the duplicate scan is at
most 55 comparisons.
Anchor semantics: Only intermediary nodes (indices 1 through
nodes.length - 2) can satisfy requiredAnchors. The validator and the target
are excluded, so a direct edge [A, B] can never satisfy a non-empty
requiredAnchors. Callers that want anchors to be advisory MUST pass an empty
requiredAnchors array rather than inspecting a partial result.
Scope fallback semantics:
When validating an edge, implementations MUST:
params.scopeparams.scope != bytes32(0), check for trust at universal scope bytes32(0)setIdentityGateGates are stored under the key (msg.sender, coordinationType). A caller can only
create, replace, or remove gates within its own namespace, so no cross-caller
authorisation check is required and two callers can never collide on the same
coordinationType.
setIdentityGate MUST revert if params violates the Validation Parameters
Constraints.
setIdentityGate MUST NOT require the caller to control gatekeeperNode. Naming a
gatekeeper only reads that agent's public attestations; it neither modifies them nor
makes any claim on the gatekeeper's behalf.
If valid:
(msg.sender, coordinationType) and marked enabledIdentityGateSet MUST be emittedremoveIdentityGateremoveIdentityGate MUST revert with GateNotFound if no enabled gate exists at
(msg.sender, coordinationType).
If valid:
IdentityGateRemoved MUST be emittedvalidateParticipantWithPathThis function gates ERC-8001 coordination participation for a participant identified by ENS node.
The caller names the agent being gated. Implementations MUST bind the result to that
agent by requiring the path to terminate at participantNode; a path that merely
originates at the gatekeeper proves nothing about the participant.
function validateParticipantWithPath(
address coordinator,
bytes32 coordinationType,
bytes32 participantNode,
TrustPath calldata path
) external view returns (bool isValid) {
(bytes32 gatekeeperNode, ValidationParams memory params, bool enabled) =
getIdentityGate(coordinator, coordinationType);
if (!enabled) return true; // No gate = open participation
if (path.nodes.length < 2) return false;
// Path MUST start at the gatekeeper...
if (path.nodes[0] != gatekeeperNode) return false;
// ...and MUST terminate at the participant being gated
if (path.nodes[path.nodes.length - 1] != participantNode) return false;
return verifyPath(path, params);
}
validateParticipantWithPath MUST return false if:
path.nodes.length < 2path.nodes[0] != gatekeeperNodepath.nodes[path.nodes.length - 1] != participantNodeverifyPath(path, params) returns falseIt MUST return true when no gate is enabled at (coordinator, coordinationType).
Integrators that require an explicit gate MUST check getIdentityGate for enabled
before relying on this function, since an unconfigured coordination type is open by
default.
validateParticipantAddressThis is the hook an ERC-8001 coordinator calls for each entry in an
intent's participants array. It differs from validateParticipantWithPath only in
how the participant is identified: by address rather than by node.
function validateParticipantAddress(
address coordinator,
bytes32 coordinationType,
address participant,
TrustPath calldata path
) external view returns (bool isValid) {
(bytes32 gatekeeperNode, ValidationParams memory params, bool enabled) =
getIdentityGate(coordinator, coordinationType);
if (!enabled) return true; // No gate = open participation
if (participant == address(0)) return false;
if (path.nodes.length < 2) return false;
if (path.nodes[0] != gatekeeperNode) return false;
// The terminal node MUST be bound to the participant address
if (resolveAgent(path.nodes[path.nodes.length - 1]) != participant) return false;
return verifyPath(path, params);
}
validateParticipantAddress MUST return false if:
participant == address(0)path.nodes.length < 2path.nodes[0] != gatekeeperNoderesolveAgent(path.nodes[path.nodes.length - 1]) != participantverifyPath(path, params) returns falseBecause an unresolvable node yields address(0), the participant == address(0) check
also prevents a node with no addr record from matching a zero participant address.
A coordinator gating a full ERC-8001 intent calls this once per entry in
participants, supplying one pre-computed path per participant.
Implementations MUST revert with these errors:
error SelfTrustProhibited();
error InvalidAttestationLevel(TrustLevel level);
error NonceTooLow(uint64 provided, uint64 required);
error AttestationExpired(uint64 expiry, uint64 currentTime);
error InvalidSignature();
error NotAuthorized(bytes32 node, address actor);
error ENSNameNotFound(bytes32 node);
error GateNotFound(bytes32 coordinationType);
error InvalidMaxPathLength(uint8 provided);
error InvalidMinEdgeTrust(TrustLevel provided);
error TooManyRequiredAnchors(uint256 provided);
error BatchTrustorMismatch();
error BatchNonceNotIncreasing();
error EmptyScopeList();
For TrustRevoked events, the following reason codes are RECOMMENDED:
| Reason Code | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Unspecified | bytes32(0) |
No specific reason |
| Misbehavior | keccak256("MISBEHAVIOR") |
Agent acted improperly |
| Compromised | keccak256("COMPROMISED") |
Key or account compromised |
| Inactive | keccak256("INACTIVE") |
Agent no longer active |
| Transfer | keccak256("TRANSFER") |
ENS name transferred |
For interoperability, the following scope values are RECOMMENDED:
| Scope | Value | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Universal | bytes32(0) |
Trust applies to all contexts |
| DeFi | keccak256("DEFI") |
DeFi coordination |
| Gaming | keccak256("GAMING") |
Gaming/metaverse |
| MEV | keccak256("MEV") |
MEV protection |
| Commerce | keccak256("COMMERCE") |
Agentic commerce |
For ERC-8001 identity gates:
| Coordination Type | Value |
|---|---|
| MEV Coordination | keccak256("MEV_COORDINATION") |
| DeFi Yield | keccak256("DEFI_YIELD") |
| Gaming Match | keccak256("GAMING_MATCH") |
| Commerce Escrow | keccak256("COMMERCE_ESCROW") |
ENS is finalised ERC-137, battle-tested, and widely adopted. Creating a new identity system would:
ENS provides everything needed: stable identifiers, ownership semantics, and extensibility.
A trustor may have different trust levels for the same trustee in different contexts. For example:
bob.eth fully for DeFi coordinationbob.eth marginally for gamingMaking scope part of the storage key (trustorNode, trusteeNode, scope) enables this naturally. Universal trust bytes32(0) serves as a fallback when scoped trust is not specified.
The marginalThreshold and fullThreshold parameters were designed for on-chain graph traversal with marginal accumulation logic. Since on-chain traversal is optional (expensive, DoS-prone), and the core primitive is verifyPath, we need only specify the minimum trust level each edge must have.
This simplification:
For use cases requiring marginal accumulation, the optional validateAgent extension accepts threshold parameters.
ENS approvals (isApprovedForAll) are designed for operators to manage names on behalf of controllers. However, allowing approved operators to forge attestation signatures would break the cryptographic binding between attestations and name controllers.
By restricting signing authority to the name controller (or ERC-1271 for contract controllers) while allowing operators to submit transactions like revokeTrust, we preserve:
On-chain graph traversal is expensive and creates DoS vectors:
By requiring pre-computed paths, this standard:
Implementations are free to add validateAgent and pathExists as optional extensions; the Specification does not require them for compliance.
The four-level model (Unknown, None, Marginal, Full) is proven by GnuPG's 25+ years of use. Finer granularity adds complexity without clear benefit; coarser granularity loses important distinctions.
With minEdgeTrust, applications can choose their security posture:
minEdgeTrust: Full — Only fully trusted pathsminEdgeTrust: Marginal — Accept marginal trust (default)Sybil attacks are the primary threat to web of trust systems. Required anchors force trust paths to traverse established community nodes (DAOs, protocols, auditors), transforming Sybil resistance from application-layer advice into protocol-level enforcement.
coordinationType in ERC-8001 is a proposer-chosen identifier such as
keccak256("MEV_SANDWICH_COORD_V1"). It carries no namespace of its own, so two
unrelated applications can and will choose the same value. A gate registry keyed on
coordinationType alone would hand whichever application registered first permanent
control of that identifier for everybody else, and the Recommended Coordination Types
in this document would be the first values squatted.
Keying gates by (msg.sender, coordinationType) gives every caller a namespace it
inherently owns. Squatting becomes impossible, registering a gate requires no ENS name
at all, and well-known coordination type constants stay safe to publish.
The alternative of keying by (gatekeeperNode, coordinationType) was rejected because
it conflates two distinct roles: the party that sets a policy and the party whose
trust graph the policy reads. A coordinator should be able to gate on any agent's
public attestations without that agent's involvement.
The addr record is already the name controller's authoritative statement of which
address a name denotes. Reusing it means agents that are usable today are usable here
with no registration step, no additional storage, and no second source of truth to keep
synchronised.
Reverse resolution was rejected: reverse records are self-asserted, verifying one requires a forward-resolution round trip, and doing so on-chain means string handling and namehash computation over untrusted input.
The trade-off is that resolution follows the addr record, so a controller can repoint
a trusted name at a new address. This is discussed under Security Considerations, and it
is the same exposure the standard already accepts for ENS name transfers.
A single monotonic nonce per trustor serialises that agent's attestations: signatures
must be submitted in ascending order, and a signature is permanently stranded if a
higher-nonced one lands first. Per-(trustor, trustee, scope) nonces or an unordered
nonce bitmap would both avoid that.
They would also make invalidateNonces impossible. Bulk invalidation needs a single
ordered value to raise; with unordered nonces there is no floor, and a trustor
responding to a compromise would have to enumerate and burn every outstanding nonce
individually — which requires knowing them, which is exactly what a compromised agent
does not know.
The serialisation cost is therefore the price of being able to invalidate outstanding
attestations at all. It is a reasonable trade for a trust registry, where attestations
are infrequent and correct revocation matters more than issuance throughput. Agents
needing high issuance throughput should batch with setTrustBatch, which consumes a
contiguous nonce range in one transaction.
Earlier drafts allowed setTrust to carry TrustLevel.None, which meant distrust could
be reached two ways: by a signed attestation, or by revokeTrust. The two paths had
different authorisation models (signature versus caller), emitted different events, and
disagreed on whether prior trust was required.
Restricting attestations to Marginal and Full, and routing all distrust through
revocation, gives each level exactly one path, one event, and one authorisation rule.
Revocation no longer requires prior trust, so a trustor can also preemptively distrust
an agent it never trusted — a genuine web of trust need that the earlier asymmetry made
impossible to express.
Revocation cannot, on its own, undo an attestation that has been signed but not yet submitted. Attestations carry no signing timestamp, so the only ordering available between "signed" and "revoked" is the trustor's nonce, and a revocation does not know what nonces the trustor has already signed.
Advancing the nonce by one during revokeTrust would be security theatre: an
attestation signed with nonce 10 while the counter sits at 0 survives any small bump.
Only the trustor knows the highest nonce it has issued, so only the trustor can set a
floor that actually invalidates its outstanding signatures.
invalidateNonces is therefore a separate, explicit operation. The cost is that
quarantining a counterparty is two calls rather than one, which is why the Semantics
section states the combined procedure and Security Considerations repeats it.
invalidateNonces Controller-Only?Every other delegable operation in this standard is bounded. A revocation affects one
(trustorNode, trusteeNode) pair and the scopes named in the call, so delegating it to
an approved operator lets an ops key handle routine incident response without being able
to cause harm the controller cannot easily undo.
invalidateNonces is not bounded. Raising the nonce floor permanently voids every
attestation the trustor has signed but not yet submitted, across all trustees and all
scopes, and no counterparty can restore them. ENS isApprovedForAll is a coarse,
long-lived approval granted so an operator can manage a name, and holders frequently
grant it to marketplaces and management tools. Reading that approval as authority to
void an agent's entire outstanding attestation set would give those tools a power their
grantor never contemplated.
Restricting the operation to the controller costs one thing: an operator carrying out a quarantine can revoke the relationships but cannot complete the nonce invalidation, so the controller must sign that step. That is the correct place to require the controller.
A blanket "revoke every scope" primitive would have to shadow individual records with a
revocation epoch, which means an extra storage read on every edge in verifyPath and a
getTrust that no longer returns what is stored.
Batch revocation keeps scope enumeration off-chain, where this standard already puts
path search for the same reason. A trustor's client reads its own TrustSet logs,
derives the scope list, and submits one transaction. On-chain cost stays proportional to
the scopes actually granted, and getTrust stays literal.
The residual risk is a trustor that revokes an incomplete list. This is an indexing problem with an off-chain answer, not a reason to make every path verification pay for a blanket flag.
ens.owner(node) returns the NameWrapper contract for wrapped names. NameWrapper does
not implement ERC-1271, so a registry that used the raw registry owner as
the signing authority would reject every attestation from a wrapped name, and wrapped
names are a large and growing share of .eth registrations.
Unwrapping via ownerOf(uint256(node)) recovers the actual controller and preserves the
ERC-1271 path for controllers that are themselves contracts. It also
inherits NameWrapper's expiry behaviour for free: an expired wrapped name returns
address(0) and therefore has no signing authority.
This ERC introduces new functionality and does not modify existing standards.
ENS Compatibility: Uses standard ENS interfaces only — owner, resolver, and isApprovedForAll on the registry, addr on the resolver (ERC-137), and ownerOf/isApprovedForAll on the NameWrapper. Works with any ENS deployment, and with deployments that have no NameWrapper. Both wrapped and unwrapped names are supported.
On-chain validation does not rely on CCIP-Read (ERC-3668). Agents whose names are served by an off-chain resolver can still hold and issue trust, but cannot be validated by address, since addr is not readable on-chain for those names.
ERC-8001 Compatibility: Designed as a module. ERC-8001 coordinators can optionally integrate identity gates, calling validateParticipantAddress once per entry in an intent's participants array. No change to ERC-8001 is required, and coordinators that ignore this standard are unaffected.
Wallet Compatibility: Uses EIP-712 signatures, compatible with all major wallets. Supports ERC-1271 for contract wallets and smart accounts.
A test suite covering the normative requirements of this document is provided in
tests/TrustRegistry.t.sol. It exercises:
setTrust rejects self-trust, stale nonces, already-expired attestations, and signatures from any address other than the name controllersetTrust rejects attestations whose level is Unknown or None, and a later attestation restores trust after a revocation(trustor, trustee, scope) records are independentrevokeTrustBatch distrusts every listed scope, including scopes that were never granted, leaves unlisted scopes untouched, and emits one TrustRevoked per listed scopeinvalidateNonces closes it: after raising the floor, the pre-signed attestation is rejected and the distrust holdsmaxPathLengthminEdgeTrust rejects marginal edges when Full is requiredenforceExpiry is set and ignored when it is notrequiredAnchors is part of the verdict: a path whose edges all verify but which traverses no anchor is invalid, and neither the validator nor the target can satisfy an anchorValidationParams outside the stated constraints are rejectedsupportsInterface returns true for IERC165 and ITrustRegistry, and false for ITrustRegistryExtended, 0xffffffff, and unrelated identifierssupportsInterface stays within the 30,000 gas budgetvalidateParticipantWithPath rejects paths that do not start at the gatekeeper or do not terminate at the named participantvalidateParticipantAddress rejects a participant address the terminal node does not resolve to, the zero address, nodes with no addr record, and nodes behind an off-chain resolver| File | Contents |
|---|---|
contracts/ITrustRegistry.sol |
Canonical types, errors, ITrustRegistry, and the optional ITrustRegistryExtended |
contracts/TrustRegistry.sol |
Reference implementation of the required interface |
tests/TrustRegistry.t.sol |
Test suite covering the normative requirements above |
TrustRegistry.sol implements the required ITrustRegistry surface only. The
optional extensions are declared in ITrustRegistry.sol but intentionally left
unimplemented, since this standard pushes path search to off-chain indexers.
An attacker can create many ENS names and establish mutual trust between them.
Protocol-level mitigations:
ValidationParams.requiredAnchors forces paths through established community nodesmaxPathLength: 2 requires close proximity to validatorsminEdgeTrust: Full rejects marginal trust pathsApplication-level mitigations:
Attackers may attempt to position themselves in many trust paths.
Mitigations:
minEdgeTrust: Full for high-value coordinationIf an ENS name's controller is compromised:
Mitigations:
TrustSet eventsrevokeTrustBatch for every scope in which they trusted
the compromised nodeRevocation by counterparties is the only complete remedy: a compromised trustor cannot undo attestations the attacker has already signed, because the attacker controls the same nonce space. Rotating the controller stops new attestations but does not retract existing ones.
An attestation is submittable by anyone holding the signature, at any time, until the trustor's nonce passes it. It carries no signing timestamp, so revoking trust does not retract signatures the trustor issued earlier:
bob.eth full trust at nonce 10, and hands it to
a relayer that has not yet submitted itbob.ethMitigations:
invalidateNonces with a value above every nonce ever signed when quarantining a
counterparty, in addition to revokeTrustBatch. This call requires the name
controller; an approved operator cannot make itexpiry values, which bound how long a stray signature stays usable even
if the nonce floor is never raisedNote that invalidateNonces is trustor-wide: raising the floor invalidates that
trustor's outstanding attestations for every trustee and scope, not only the one being
quarantined. This is a deliberate trade-off in favour of failing closed.
When an ENS name is transferred:
Mitigations:
Transfer eventsAgent address resolution reads the node's addr record, which the name controller can
change at any time. A controller can therefore repoint a trusted name at a different
address, and any coordination gated on that name will admit the new address without any
trust attestation changing.
Mitigations:
AddrChanged events on nodes that appear in trust pathsA malicious or buggy resolver can also return arbitrary addresses. Resolvers are chosen by the name controller, so this is contained by the same trust decision: trusting a node means trusting whatever resolver that node points at.
Nodes served by an off-chain resolver (CCIP-Read) cannot be resolved on-chain;
resolveAgent returns address(0) and address-identified validation fails closed.
For wrapped names the controller is the NameWrapper token holder, recovered via
ownerOf(uint256(node)). Two consequences follow:
address(0) and loses signing authority
immediately, without any action by counterpartiesThe NameWrapper address is pinned at deployment (see Name Controller Resolution). A registry pointed at a hostile contract in that slot would let it claim control of every wrapped name.
Gates are keyed by (coordinator, coordinationType). A caller can only affect its own
namespace, so no party can squat, overwrite, or remove another's gate.
Consumers therefore have to name the coordinator whose policy they intend to apply.
Reading a gate under the wrong coordinator address silently yields an unconfigured gate,
and an unconfigured gate is open: validation returns true. Integrators that require
an explicit gate need to check getIdentityGate for enabled rather than relying on the
validation result alone.
EIP-712 domain binding prevents cross-contract replay. Monotonic nonces prevent replay within the same contract. The chainId in the domain prevents cross-chain replay.
Monotonic nonces stop an attestation from being applied twice, but they do not stop one from being applied late. See Pre-Signed Attestations.
Trust relationships may become stale if agents don't update them.
Mitigations:
enforceExpiry: true in validation parametersexpiry values on attestations (90 days maximum for high-stakes)TrustSet event timestamps off-chainThis standard assumes off-chain indexers compute trust paths. Malicious indexers could:
verifyPath)Mitigations:
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