Why it matters

Discovery is what enables dynamic multi-agent systems. Hard-coded integrations don't scale. Understanding discovery patterns is central to production A2A deployment.

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The architecture

Well-known URL: /.well-known/agent.json on each agent host. Simple discovery.

Registry: centralized directory of known agents. Enables discovery by capability, tag, or domain.

A2A discovery layersWell-known URLsper-host discoveryRegistrycentral directoryCapability matchingmatch task to skillRouting agent uses capability descriptions to pick best agent for each task
Discovery mechanisms.
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How it works end to end

Capability matching: for each task, routing agent evaluates candidate agents' skill descriptions and picks best match. Often uses embeddings for semantic matching.

Trust: registered agents must be authenticated. Untrusted registries invite bad agents.

Dynamic: registries can update in real time as agents come and go.