# MAIP and machine identity: evaluating an integration

> Separate the identity model, API implementation, SDK version, and receiving system’s enforcement when connecting an agent platform.

By Truthlocks
Published: 2026-04-09
Updated: 2026-10-03T05:03:21.629228Z
Canonical page: https://www.truthlocks.com/blog/open-source-maip-protocol

Truthlocks uses the name Machine Agent Identity Protocol, or MAIP, for its machine-identity approach and associated tooling. When evaluating an integration, the important question is which identity, permission, and evidence behaviors your chosen components actually implement.

## Separate the layers

An identity model describes the information exchanged. An API implements operations on that information. An SDK wraps particular API versions. A receiving application decides whether a request is authorized. Compatibility needs to be checked across those layers rather than inferred from a shared protocol label.

Before relying on an SDK or package name from an older article, follow the [current documentation](https://docs.truthlocks.com/) and inspect the actual release you intend to use. Licensing can differ between repositories and packages; review the license distributed with that specific component.

## Evaluate a small exchange

- Register or identify the agent in the correct workspace.
- Define the task and the receiving tool.
- Configure the supported permissions and authentication mechanism.
- Execute a permitted test action and inspect the captured evidence.
- Attempt an out-of-scope action and confirm that the receiving tool rejects it.
- Change or revoke access and check the downstream behavior.

This exercise reveals more than a list of supported concepts. It shows whether identity context survives the handoff and whether the action boundary exists where it matters.

## Keep extensions understandable

If your workflow adds organization-specific metadata, document which fields are required and how recipients interpret them. A field present in one application’s record may not have meaning to another verifier. Validate the supported schema and avoid silently treating unknown fields as authorization.

For multi-organization workflows, define which issuers and delegation evidence the receiving side accepts. A request carrying an identity is not automatically a grant of access in another workspace.

## Choose the integration by its job

Start from the [agent-platform example](https://www.truthlocks.com/industries/ai-ml#agent-platforms) or [application-event workflow](https://www.truthlocks.com/industries/saas#customer-events). Explore [integrations](https://www.truthlocks.com/resources/integrations), [downloads](https://www.truthlocks.com/resources/downloads), and [machine identity](https://www.truthlocks.com/product/machine-identity) to identify the current tools appropriate to that job.