ID Protocol

ID is Git-like infrastructure for portable human-AI identity context.

Git versions code. ID versions the reviewed context that tells AI tools how to work with a person.

It is not another assistant. It is the profile, contract, and release layer that can travel across tools.

profile.*  -> source
soul.md    -> build artifact
context.compact.json -> release bundle
idctl diff -> semantic identity diff
validate   -> CI gate
provenance -> blame surface
freshness  -> stale detection

What It Covers

• canonical owner-managed profile files
• compact derived soul.md for fast agent bootstrap
• portable interop artifacts (context.compact, interop.v1, mcp)
• validation, freshness, and publish-safety checks
• semantic identity diffs via idctl diff
• integration points for SET, agentsgen, and other repo workflows

Works Across Tools

Claude Code
     |
     v
profile.* + soul.md + context.compact.json
     |
     v
ChatGPT / Gemini / Cursor / Continue / OpenAI API

The value is simple: create one reviewed profile, then reuse it across tools without rebuilding user context from scratch.

See docs/WILD.md for concrete cross-tool workflows.

Start In 5 Minutes

Install:

brew install markoblogo/tap/id-protocol

Bootstrap:

idctl init --owner-id <owner-id>
idctl refresh-soul --owner-id <owner-id>
make validate
make compact

You end up with:

• profile.minimal.md as the first owner checkpoint
• soul.md as the short reviewed handoff layer
• context.compact.json as the portable compact artifact

Check what changed before sharing or switching tools:

idctl diff --owner-id <owner-id> --since 7d

Core Files

Source of truth:

• profiles/<owner>/profile.minimal.md
• profiles/<owner>/profile.core.md
• profiles/<owner>/profile.extended.md
• profiles/<owner>/CHANGELOG.md

Derived layers:

• profiles/<owner>/soul.md
• profiles/<owner>/context.compact.json
• profiles/<owner>/interop.v1.json
• profiles/<owner>/mcp.context.resource.json

Why This Exists

• system prompts are fragile and usually copied by hand
• chat-native memory is product-siloed and hard to audit
• repo instructions help per repo, not across tools or roles
• ID keeps user context explicit, versioned, reviewable, and portable

soul.md exists because the full profile stack is often too heavy for the first pass. It gives agents a short bootstrap surface without replacing the canonical profile files.

Ecosystem Role

• ID owns portable human context
• agentsgen owns repo-scoped agent context
• SET can orchestrate both layers

Practical rule:

• use ID for the human
• use agentsgen for the repository
• use SET when you want orchestration around both

Quick Paths

• Lite: docs/LITE.md
• Share: docs/SHARE.md
• Bench: docs/BENCH.md
• Wild: docs/WILD.md
• Identity Diff: docs/IDENTITY_DIFF.md
• Soul: docs/SOUL.md
• Integrations: docs/INTEGRATIONS.md
• Releases: docs/RELEASES.md
• full docs index: docs/README.md

Live Public Metrics

Runs analyzed: 4

Profile freshness score (owner markoblogo): 0.0

Key artifacts:
- profiles/markoblogo/profile.core.md: score=0.0 age=98 ttl=14
- profiles/markoblogo/profile.extended.md: score=0.0 age=97 ttl=30

Current CLI Surface

idctl init --owner-id <owner-id>
idctl refresh-soul --owner-id <owner-id>
idctl validate
idctl diff --owner-id <owner-id>
idctl export-compact --owner-id <owner-id>
idctl export-interop --owner-id <owner-id>
idctl export-mcp --owner-id <owner-id>

Current Status

Today ID functions as:

• a protocol/spec reference
• a validated tooling reference
• a compact onboarding path
• a Git-like diff/review surface for AI identity context
• an installable CLI package on PyPI/Homebrew

Latest release: v0.4.0 adds idctl diff, wild workflows, and Git-like identity context positioning.