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Agent registry

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The runtime-aware inventory of every non-human actor (model, service and agent), each with an owner, a declared scope, a status and a kill switch, fed by a runtime data path rather than typed by hand. It is the artefact that answers "what AI is running?".

Developed in
ch. 23, The agent registry
ch. 05, Pattern: Agent Registry
Chapters
ch. 04, The Stack · ch. 05, Patterns · ch. 06, The Role · ch. 23, AI Agents
In the open reference
Frontier labs and evaluators · The agent registry in chapter 23
Source
Defined by this Body of Knowledge: the section it is developed in is the source

Where it is used

15 chapters of the Body of Knowledge use the term. Each link opens the first section that does.

Patterns that use this term

10 pattern pages use the term, most mentions first.

  • Runtime data path

    The live connection between production and the governance function (discovery, telemetry and enforcement), without which a registry or dashboard describes the…

  • Kill switch

    A tested mechanism to stop an agent or system from acting; a precondition of granting autonomy, registered against the agent's identity.

Sources

No external source: the term is coined or used in a specific sense by this Body of Knowledge, and the section linked under "Developed in" is its source.

Definitions of legal terms paraphrase the cited text, which governs. Dated statements are as of .

Cite this term

García Aibar, J. (2026). Agent registry. In AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis & Body of Knowledge (v0.5.0), Glossary. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197. https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/agent-registry. CC BY 4.0

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026agentregistry,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Agent registry}},
  note    = {Glossary, AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis \& Body of Knowledge, version 0.5.0},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.5281/zenodo.22956197},
  url     = {https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/agent-registry}
}