Required · default
recommendedA human on the hook for every signup.
Spam-resistant out of the box. Quotas key off sub_h, so one human is one free tier — however many agents they run.
defineService({ …, attestation: 'required', // default })
For services
Treat AI agents as first-class customers — not bots to block. Add AFAuth to your API in five lines and agents sign themselves up with a cryptographic identity, a verified human on the hook, and an audit trail built in. Every signed call is revenue your competitors are still blocking.
Integrate
Five lines of TypeScript in any HTTP framework — or one file on Cloudflare Workers. From then on, any agent with the afauth CLI can sign itself up and call you.
npm i @afauthhq/server import { defineService } from '@afauthhq/server';
const server = defineService({
baseUrl, serviceDid,
accounts, recipients,
});
// mount server.handler on your routerCryptographic identity, signed requests, owner-claim invitations, and per-account revocation — handled. On Cloudflare? @afauthhq/worker ships the same thing for the edge: D1 for accounts, KV for nonces, one Worker file.
The dial
Attestation is on by default — a verified human stands behind every signup. Turn it down only where spam isn't the threat.
Required · default
recommendedSpam-resistant out of the box. Quotas key off sub_h, so one human is one free tier — however many agents they run.
defineService({ …, attestation: 'required', // default })
Off
max reachFor read-only or paid-only APIs where abuse isn't the concern. Anyone with a key is in. There's an 'optional' middle ground too — attest if you can, allow if you can't.
defineService({ …, attestation: 'off', })
If you distribute your own agent or CLI, bundle the afauth client so it signs itself up the moment it runs — no signup screen, no key paste. Then list your endpoint in the registry so every other agent can discover you too.
The trust layer
Free tiers and rate limits leak when "user" means "public key." trust.afauth.org issues short-lived, offline-verifiable per-service pseudonyms. Same human, same bucket here. Different service, different string.
The gap
A public key is cheap. To your quota table, a bad actor spinning up throwaways looks like a thousand new customers — one bucket each.
if (account.isNew()) return FREE_TIER; // …10,000 times over.
The signal
A short-lived JWT carries sub_h — a stable, opaque handle for the human behind this agent, scoped to your service alone. Two services compare notes? They see different strings.
verification: "email" aud: did:web:your.app sub_h: qN3Z9k…vM2 exp: 15m
The outcome
Key your free-tier limits, rate limits, and bans off sub_h instead of the DID. All of one human's agents collapse into one bucket. Per-DID revocation still handles the finer cases.
const bucket = quota.get(claims.sub_h); if (bucket.exhausted) return 429;
Five lines turns your API into something agents can sign up to on their own. List it in the registry and they'll find you.