Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://agentvolumes.mintlify.app/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
/spec/<version>/... archive paths.
Release archives
Open the archive index for release evidence, citations, and historical lookup.
Latest release
Browse the current non-draft archive for Agent Volumes
v0.1.0-rc.1.Quickstart
Create your first volume and understand the validation path before publishing.
Implementers guide
Map the v0.1.0-rc.1 artifacts to client, bibliotheca, validator, and exporter work.
Contributor guide
Route specification feedback, pull requests, security reports, and community conduct concerns.
Registry API
Read the current Registry API orientation, then follow the frozen release archive for details.
What Agent Volumes is
Agent Volumes functions analogously to established package ecosystems such as npm for JavaScript, PyPI for Python, and crates.io for Rust. The difference is that instead of packaging libraries or binaries, you package agent components — the skills, tools, agents, hooks, commands, MCP servers, and LSP servers that run inside AI agent runtimes. The distribution unit is a volume: a versioned package that usually exports agent components, or that can bundle dependencies without mandatory components when it usesrole = "meta". Registries that host and serve volumes are called bibliothecas. You interact with them using compatible client tooling such as the shelf CLI.
The three problems Agent Volumes solves
Fragmentation
Each runtime defines its own component layout. Developers rewrite the same skill, tool, or MCP
server for every runtime they want to support. Agent Volumes gives you one package format that
compatible runtimes can consume.
No supply chain identity
Agent components have no standard identifier, versioning model, or provenance chain.
Organizations cannot audit what runs inside their agent systems. Agent Volumes assigns every
volume and component a globally unique, purl-compatible identifier.
No shared trust model
Without content integrity verification or publisher identity, every installation is an implicit
trust decision with no revocation or advisory mechanism. Agent Volumes treats supply chain
integrity as a first-class concern.
Key terminology
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Agent Volumes | This specification. The open standard for packaging and distributing AI agent components. |
| Volume | The distribution unit. A versioned package that usually exports agent components, or a dependency bundle when role = "meta". Analogous to an npm package or Python wheel. |
| Bibliotheca | A registry that indexes, hosts, and serves volumes. Analogous to npmjs.com or PyPI. |
| volume.toml | The package manifest file. Declares the volume’s metadata, components, dependencies, and compatibility. Analogous to package.json or Cargo.toml. |
| pkg:volume/… | The purl-compatible identifier scheme for volumes and components. For example: pkg:volume/research-agent-pack@1.4.0. |
The seven component types
Volumes that export components use one or more of seven component types:Agent
An autonomous runtime actor with a system prompt, tool bindings, and the ability to make
multi-step decisions independently.
Skill
Instructional knowledge loaded into an agent’s context. Teaches the runtime how to perform a
specific task without executing code directly.
Command
A user-invokable slash command, such as
/review. Triggered explicitly by the user, not called
programmatically by the agent.Tool
A function-call endpoint the agent calls programmatically during task execution. Has defined
inputs and outputs and is stateless per invocation.
Hook
A lifecycle event handler triggered automatically by the runtime at specific points, such as
PreToolUse, SessionStart, or FileChanged.MCP Server
A service endpoint implementing the Model Context Protocol.
Runs as a long-running process communicating over stdio, SSE, or streamable HTTP.
LSP Server
A service endpoint implementing the Language Server
Protocol. Provides code intelligence for
language-aware runtime operations.
Release and archive routes
/spec/latest/and/spec/current/redirect to the latest non-draft release archive.- The current non-draft release archive is
/spec/0.1.0-rc.1/. - The archive selector is
/spec/. - Older non-draft release archives remain reachable after newer releases are published.
- Use versioned archive pages as durable citation targets.
/spec/latest/and/spec/current/are convenience aliases only.
Implementation projects
The shelf CLI is the reference client implementation maintained by Windlass. It is intended to demonstrate the Agent Volumes client contract, including publishing volumes, resolving dependencies, verifying content integrity, and managing trust metadata. The Alexandria bibliotheca is the reference registry implementation, also maintained by Windlass. It is intended to demonstrate the Agent Volumes Registry API, including package operations, version discovery, trust upload, and capability metadata endpoints.shelf and Alexandria are downstream implementation projects, not governance artifacts of the Agent
Volumes Organization. They demonstrate the specification in practice but do not define it.
Related standards
Agent Volumes builds on and integrates with established standards rather than reinventing them:| Standard | Relationship |
|---|---|
| Package URL (purl) | Volume identifiers are purl-compatible using the volume type. |
| Semantic Versioning 2.0.0 | All volume versions follow SemVer. |
| CycloneDX | The normative BOM exchange format for Agent Volumes interoperability. |
| SLSA | The baseline provenance model for publish and verification workflows. |
| Sigstore | The baseline trust mechanism for signing and verifying provenance-attached artifacts. |
| Model Context Protocol (MCP) | MCP Server is a first-class component type; protocol compatibility declarations reference MCP versions. |
| Language Server Protocol (LSP) | LSP Server is a first-class component type. |
| Agent Skills Specification | Skill component entrypoints follow the Agent Skills SKILL.md format. volume.toml is a package-level addition, not a replacement. |
Explore the current documentation
Core concepts
Understand volumes, component types, bibliothecas, and the identity scheme.
Manifest reference
Read the frozen
volume.toml manifest reference for v0.1.0-rc.1.Implementers guide
Build an experimental client, bibliotheca, validator, exporter, or runtime adapter from the
canonical artifacts.
Contributors
Learn how to propose specification changes, route issues, report vulnerabilities, and
participate respectfully.
Component types
Learn about agents, skills, commands, tools, hooks, MCP servers, and LSP servers in the release
archive.
Conformance
Use the archived fixture corpus and role-scoped requirements without treating them as
certification.