P61 — AIEP — Well-Known Manifest Specification
Publication Date: 2026-02-26 Status: Open Source Prior Art Disclosure Licence: Apache License 2.0 Author/Organisation: Phatfella Ltd Schema: AIEP_OS_SPEC_TEMPLATE v1.0.1 — https://aiep.dev/schemas/aiep-os-spec-template/v1.0.1
Field of the Invention
[0001] The disclosure relates to site-level discovery mechanisms for machine-ingestible web content.
[0002] More particularly, the disclosure concerns a well-known manifest specification defining a canonical site-level discovery document at /.well-known/aiep-manifest.json that enables AI agents and automated systems to deterministically locate AIEP-compliant machine mirror endpoints and schema versions supported by a given site.
Framework Context
[0003] This invention operates within an Architected Instruction and Evidence Protocol (AIEP) environment as defined in United Kingdom patent application number GB2519711.2, filed 20 November 2025, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
[0004] The present invention extends deterministic canonicalisation, governance, and execution integrity mechanisms defined in the AIEP environment while remaining independently implementable as described herein.
Background
[0005] Automated agents ingesting web content for evidence purposes require a deterministic mechanism to discover whether a site supports machine-ingestible mirror pages and to identify which schema versions are supported.
[0006] Without a standardised discovery document, agents must probe individual URLs heuristically, producing non-deterministic discovery behaviour and inconsistent ingestion scope.
[0007] Existing site-level metadata standards such as robots.txt and sitemap.xml are designed for crawlers and search engines and do not provide schema version declarations, mirror index references, or AIEP protocol version binding.
[0008] Existing systems do not provide:
(a) a standardised publicly accessible discovery endpoint at /.well-known/aiep-manifest.json;
(b) a required manifest structure declaring aiep_version, site canonical URL, supported schema versions, mirror index location, and generation timestamp;
(c) a requirement that the manifest list canonical schema versions; or
(d) a requirement that the manifest reference a deterministic index location.
[0009] There exists a need for a well-known manifest specification that provides a canonical, publicly accessible site-level discovery document enabling deterministic agent discovery of AIEP-compliant mirror endpoints.
Summary of the Disclosure
[0011] A well-known manifest specification is disclosed defining /.well-known/aiep-manifest.json as the canonical site-level discovery document for AIEP-compliant sites.
[0012] The manifest must be publicly accessible at the declared well-known path.
[0013] The required manifest structure is:
{
"aiep_version": "1.0.0",
"site": "https://example.com",
"supported_schemas": ["aiep.web.page.v1"],
"mirror_index": "/.well-known/aiep-index.json",
"generated_at": "ISO8601"
}
[0014] The manifest must list canonical schema version identifiers in the supported_schemas array.
[0015] The manifest must reference the deterministic index location in mirror_index, pointing to the machine-ingestible site index as defined in P62.
[0016] A ManifestHash is computed as:
ManifestHash = H(CanonicalManifest || aiep_version || site)
[0017] If the manifest is absent, malformed, or fails schema validation, agents must deny ingestion in a fail-closed manner without fallback discovery.
[0018] The technical effect is modification of agent discovery behaviour by providing a deterministic, publicly accessible site-level declaration of AIEP protocol support, supported schemas, and mirror index location.
Brief Description of the Drawings
[0020] Figure 1 illustrates the well-known endpoint location and agent discovery flow.
[0021] Figure 2 illustrates the required manifest structure and field relationships.
[0022] Figure 3 illustrates the ManifestHash computation pipeline.
[0023] Figure 4 illustrates fail-closed agent behaviour on manifest absence, malformation, or validation failure.
ASCII Drawings
Figure 1 — Well-Known Endpoint and Agent Discovery Flow
Agent Site
+----+ +---------------------------+
| | GET /.well-known/ | |
| | aiep-manifest.json | /.well-known/ |
| | -----------------------> | aiep-manifest.json |
| | | (publicly accessible) |
| | <----------------------- | |
| | Manifest response +---------------------------+
+----+
|
v
Validate structure
Check supported_schemas
Follow mirror_index to P62 index
Figure 2 — Required Manifest Structure
+------------------------------------------+
| /.well-known/aiep-manifest.json |
|------------------------------------------|
| aiep_version : "1.0.0" |
| site : canonical site URL |
| supported_schemas: ["aiep.web.page.v1"] |
| (canonical schema IDs) |
| mirror_index : "/.well-known/ |
| aiep-index.json" |
| generated_at : ISO8601 (stored data) |
+------------------------------------------+
Figure 3 — ManifestHash Computation
CanonicalManifest ----+
aiep_version ----+--> H(CanonicalManifest ||
site ----+ aiep_version || site)
|
v
+---------------------+
| ManifestHash |
+---------------------+
Figure 4 — Fail-Closed Agent Behaviour
+---------------------------+
| GET /.well-known/ |
| aiep-manifest.json |
+------------+--------------+
|
+------+------+
Present Absent
| |
v v
+------------------+ +-----------+
| Schema | | DENY |
| Validation | | Ingestion |
+--------+---------+ | Fail- |
| | Closed |
+------+------+ +-----------+
Valid Invalid
| |
v v
+----------+ +-----------+
| Proceed | | DENY |
| to index | | Ingestion |
+----------+ | Fail- |
| Closed |
+-----------+
Detailed Description
1. Well-Known Endpoint
[0024] The canonical discovery document is published at /.well-known/aiep-manifest.json on the site’s root domain.
[0025] The manifest must be publicly accessible without authentication.
2. Required Manifest Fields
[0026] The manifest comprises the following required fields:
(a) aiep_version: AIEP protocol version string;
(b) site: canonical URL of the site;
(c) supported_schemas: array of canonical schema version identifiers supported by the site;
(d) mirror_index: path to the machine-ingestible site index as defined in P62; and
(e) generated_at: ISO 8601 generation timestamp recorded as data.
3. ManifestHash Computation
[0027] A ManifestHash is computed over the canonicalised manifest as:
ManifestHash = H(CanonicalManifest || aiep_version || site)
[0028] Canonicalisation follows the rules defined in P63.
4. Fail-Closed Agent Behaviour
[0029] If the manifest is absent at /.well-known/aiep-manifest.json, agents must deny ingestion in a fail-closed manner without fallback discovery.
[0030] If the manifest is malformed or fails schema validation, agents must deny ingestion in a fail-closed manner.
[0031] Agents must not proceed to index retrieval or mirror page ingestion until the manifest has been successfully validated.
Claims
-
A well-known manifest specification defining a canonical site-level discovery document for AIEP-compliant sites, the specification comprising: (a) a canonical discovery endpoint at
/.well-known/aiep-manifest.jsonthat must be publicly accessible; (b) a required manifest structure comprising aiep_version, site canonical URL, supported_schemas array of canonical schema version identifiers, mirror_index path, and generated_at timestamp recorded as data; (c) a ManifestHash computed as H(CanonicalManifest || aiep_version || site); (d) a requirement that agents validate manifest structure before proceeding to mirror index retrieval; and (e) fail-closed agent behaviour denying ingestion upon manifest absence, malformation, or schema validation failure without fallback discovery. -
The specification of claim 1 wherein supported_schemas lists canonical schema version identifiers enabling agents to determine schema compatibility before mirror page ingestion.
-
The specification of claim 1 wherein mirror_index references the deterministic site index location as defined in P62.
-
A computing system configured to publish a well-known manifest conforming to the specification of any of claims 1 to 3.
-
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed, cause one or more processors to generate or validate well-known manifests conforming to the specification of any of claims 1 to 3.
Licence
Any person is granted a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free licence to make, use, implement, modify, or distribute any system or method described in this disclosure for any purpose, without restriction, under the Apache License 2.0.
A copy of the Apache License 2.0 is available at https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Abstract
A well-known manifest specification is disclosed defining /.well-known/aiep-manifest.json as the canonical site-level discovery document for AIEP-compliant web sites. The manifest must be publicly accessible and comprises aiep_version, site canonical URL, supported_schemas array, mirror_index path, and generated_at timestamp. A ManifestHash is computed as H(CanonicalManifest || aiep_version || site). Agents must validate manifest structure before proceeding to index retrieval or mirror page ingestion, and must deny ingestion in a fail-closed manner upon manifest absence, malformation, or schema validation failure without fallback discovery. The specification enables deterministic agent discovery of supported schema versions and mirror index location.