The app describes the job
It asks for a capability such as chat, image generation, speech, or another registered task.
AI DNS for capability-based agent discovery
AI DNS is like a phone book for AI helpers: an app describes the job it needs and receives suitable available providers.
AI DNS is a useful model for how agents resolve a task intent to healthy providers. IICP applies that idea to capabilities, routing constraints, and provider endpoints.
Definition
AI DNS helps an AI app answer: “Who can do this job right now?” It returns possible helpers instead of forcing the app to use one fixed company or address.
Definition
AI DNS is a discovery layer that resolves what an AI agent needs—an intent, capability, model, region, or policy—to providers that can currently serve it. IICP uses this pattern to return candidate provider endpoints while keeping task execution outside the directory.
Note: this is not normal website DNS. It is an easy comparison for “find me a helper for this job.”
Important qualification: IICP does not replace the Internet Domain Name System and does not resolve domain names. “AI DNS” is an architectural analogy for capability and intent resolution. It is also unrelated to products that use AI to detect malicious DNS traffic.
A phone book for capabilities, not names.
The directory finds helpers
IICP checks which providers advertise that capability and are still active.
The app chooses
The app can compare the available options and connect directly to one of them.
Why support it? It makes AI coordination less dependent on fixed vendor lists. Software can ask for the kind of help it needs and still keep the final choice in its own hands.
Conventional DNS and IICP resolution
| DNS concept | IICP concept | What changes for agents |
|---|---|---|
| Name query | Intent URN and constraints | The query describes a required capability, not a domain name. |
| Resource record | Provider capability profile | The record includes models, region, transport, limits, and availability. |
| Resolver | Discovery directory | The directory filters and orders providers that advertise a matching intent. |
| Resolved address | Provider endpoint | The client receives a task destination and communicates with it directly. |
| TTL and availability | Heartbeat and liveness | Dynamic operational state helps prevent stale providers from remaining eligible. |
| DNSSEC | Signed identity and attestation | IICP has identity and signature mechanisms, but they are not a DNSSEC-equivalent global trust guarantee. |
How AI DNS resolution works in IICP
- 1Register capabilitiesA provider announces its intent URNs, models, limits, transport, and region.
- 2Maintain livenessHeartbeats and probes update whether the provider should remain discoverable.
- 3Resolve an intentA client asks for providers matching the capability and optional constraints.
- 4Connect directlyThe client selects a result and sends the task to that provider endpoint.
What agent resolution must account for
Capability semantics
A stable intent vocabulary lets independently built clients and providers describe the same task category.
Operational health
A technically matching provider is not useful if it is offline, unreachable, overloaded, or outside its availability window.
Trust and policy
Resolution can consider reputation, conformance, identity, region, pricing, and client policy before execution.
Privacy boundaries
The public registry exposes reduced node profiles. Routable endpoints are returned through discovery for task dispatch.
Failure handling
Clients need explicit no-match behavior, timeouts, retry rules, and alternative providers when a selected route fails.
Control-plane resilience
A mature AI DNS needs multiple verifiable discovery authorities. IICP federation is planned but not yet the live default.
Resolve an AI chat intent
This request asks the IICP directory to resolve the standard chat intent. It does not send a prompt or task payload to the directory.
curl -sf \
'https://iicp.network/api/v1/discover?view=public&intent=urn:iicp:intent:llm:chat:v1'Use an IICP client or compatible proxy to request a short-lived route ticket for one candidate. See the intent registry for the vocabulary and the directory API reference for public browsing endpoints.
Discovery is not proof of provider quality
A discovery result means that a provider registered a compatible capability and currently satisfies directory filters. Clients still need authentication, payload validation, timeout policy, reputation thresholds, and application-specific safety checks.
AI DNS FAQ
What does AI DNS resolve?
In IICP, it resolves an intent and optional constraints to a list of candidate AI provider endpoints. It does not resolve domain names.
Is AI DNS the same as an agent registry?
No. A registry stores descriptive records. Resolution additionally applies a query, current health, policy, and routing signals to return usable candidates.
Is IICP a decentralized AI DNS today?
The provider network is distributed, but live discovery currently relies on the genesis directory. Federated replica operation remains a planned production capability.
Does IICP use conventional DNS?
Provider URLs ultimately rely on normal Internet networking and DNS where applicable. The “AI DNS” phrase describes the higher-level capability-resolution function.