Verifiable Intent

Verifiable Intent is an open credential standard for agent commerce. It defines a three-layer credential chain that proves an agent was authorized to act on a user's behalf. Treeship provides the agent_attestation field in Layer 3 credentials, supplying the cryptographic proof that the agent executed correctly.

The credential chain

Verifiable Intent credentials flow through three layers:

L1: Issuer credential
    The payment network or merchant issues a credential that defines
    what actions are possible (accepted payment methods, limits, terms).

    |
    v

L2: User mandate
    The user (or their wallet) issues a credential that delegates
    authority to a specific agent. Scoped to an action, amount, and
    time window.

    |
    v

L3: Agent execution
    The agent acts and produces a credential that proves it followed
    the mandate. This is where Treeship lives.

How Treeship integrates

The L3 credential includes an agent_attestation field. Treeship populates this field with four components:

Together, these fields let any verifier confirm the agent acted within scope, followed policy, and did not exceed limits, without needing access to the full session log.

The trust stack

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  L1: Issuer credential                  │
│  (payment network / merchant)           │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  L2: User mandate                       │
│  (user delegates to agent)              │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  L3: Agent execution                    │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │  agent_attestation (Treeship)     │  │
│  │  - declaration                    │  │
│  │  - session                        │  │
│  │  - merkle_root                    │  │
│  │  - zk_proofs                      │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────────┘  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Treeship is embedded inside L3. It does not replace the Verifiable Intent credential; it provides the cryptographic evidence that makes the L3 credential trustworthy.

Key management

Verifiable Intent uses P-256 (secp256r1) for credential signatures. Treeship can generate and manage P-256 keys alongside its default Ed25519 keys:

treeship vi keygen

This generates a P-256 keypair stored in your Treeship keyring. The key is used when signing agent_attestation fields for VI credentials.

treeship vi keygen

treeship vi keys list

treeship vi attest \
  --session <session-id> \
  --mandate <l2-credential-id>

Status

Compatible with Lobster Cash

Verifiable Intent credentials and Lobster Cash payments work together. The flow is:

1. L2 mandate delegates payment authority to the agent
2. Treeship attests each step (intent, approval, execution)
3. Lobster Cash executes the payment
4. Treeship produces the agent_attestation for the L3 credential
5. The L3 credential, the Treeship receipt chain, and the Lobster Cash settlement form a complete proof

See the Lobster Cash integration for the payment-specific workflow.