v0.1 • Public Protocol • The Trust Signal, Not the Trust Engine
Prism is a lightweight, neutral protocol for generating standardized intent metadata across apps, agents, and AI systems.
It provides a universal pre-execution intent signal — a tiny metadata envelope that documents what an agent is about to do, without enforcing, verifying, judging, or governing the action.
Prism describes intent — it does not judge intent.
Modern applications and AI systems generate billions of actions daily — messages, decisions, API calls, tasks — yet none include a standardized intent signal.
Prism introduces a universal metadata object that represents:
what an agent intends to do
when the intent was formed
a human-readable summary
self-assessed confidence
a simple acknowledgment
This makes intent explicit and portable without imposing policy, cryptography, identity proofs, or governance.
When an agent prepares to perform an action, it generates a Prism Intent Signal:
Agent → [Generate Prism Signal] → Action Executes
Prism does not approve, deny, judge, score, verify, or modify actions. It simply documents intent in a universal, metadata-only format.
The core signal is a tiny, portable metadata object:
{
"prism_id": "uuid",
"timestamp": "ISO-8601",
"agent": "string",
"intent_summary": "string",
"acknowledgment": "prism_v0.1"
}| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
| prism_id | Unique identifier for this intent signal. |
| timestamp | When the intent was formed (ISO 8601 UTC). |
| agent | Name or identifier of the system generating the intent. |
| intent_summary | Human-readable description of the intended action. |
| acknowledgment | Prism signal version identifier (prism_v0.1). |
The envelope is intentionally minimal for maximum safety, clarity, and interoperability.
from uuid import uuid4
from datetime import datetime, timezone
def utc_now():
return datetime.now(timezone.utc)
def create_prism_signal(agent, summary):
return {
"prism_id": str(uuid4()),
"timestamp": utc_now().isoformat().replace("+00:00", "Z"),
"agent": agent,
"intent_summary": summary,
"acknowledgment": "prism_v0.1"
}No cryptography. No network calls. No dependencies. Purely a local metadata object.
Developers may optionally assign simple action categories:
ACTION.SEND_MESSAGE
ACTION.ACCESS_API
ACTION.EXECUTE_CODE
ACTION.MODIFY_FILE
ACTION.AGENT_CHAIN_STEP
ACTION.MODEL_TO_MODEL
Intent codes do not expose content — they only classify the general type of action.
This is an optional ecosystem feature and not required for v0.1.
Prism provides:
A standard format for intent signaling
A minimal layer that adds transparency to any workflow
A safe, neutral protocol usable across ecosystems
A bridge between human intent and machine action
Prism is the Content-Type: application/intent+json for intelligent systems.
Prism introduces the world to standardized intent signaling:
explicit intent documentation
portable intent metadata
transparent agent behavior
universal intent primitives
This supports collaborative, interpretable digital ecosystems without requiring governance, identity, cryptography, or enforcement layers.
v0.1 — Foundation (This Release)
Prism Intent Signal format
Minimal field definitions
Starter libraries (Node, Python)
Apache 2.0 License
v0.2 — Ecosystem
Extended optional fields
Framework integrations
Intent code taxonomy
Developer examples and tooling
Community-driven enhancements
The Prism Intent Signal is designed to be lightweight and easy to generate.
from uuid import uuid4
from datetime import datetime, timezone
def utc_now():
return datetime.now(timezone.utc)
def create_prism_signal(agent, summary):
return {
"prism_id": str(uuid4()),
"timestamp": utc_now().isoformat().replace("+00:00", "Z"),
"agent": agent,
"intent_summary": summary,
"acknowledgment": "prism_v0.1"
}
# Example usage
signal = create_prism_signal(
agent="my_app.backend.worker",
summary="Sending notification email"
)
print(signal){
"prism_id": "92dcf4e8-47e8-4c65-9ccb-a1e8b8f80a57",
"timestamp": "2025-02-12T14:31:23.018Z",
"agent": "my_app.backend.worker",
"intent_summary": "Sending notification email",
"acknowledgment": "prism_v0.1"
}Prism is intentionally simple and community-focused. We welcome contributions in:
client libraries
schemas
framework adapters
documentation
examples
ecosystem tooling
PRs encouraged.
Apache 2.0 License — open, permissive, friendly to industry and academia.
Created by Robert Katzenberger
Prism is inspired by the open-source community and the growing need for transparent, interoperable intent signaling across digital systems.
Prism is an open, neutral protocol.
All implementations are voluntary, vendor-agnostic, and designed for maximum interoperability.
Document Version: v0.1
Release Date: 11/15/2025
Editor: Robert Katzenberger
Status: Public Draft
This document is part of the Prism Protocol open standard.
Comments and contributions are welcome.
