AI Domain Data Standard — Specification Snapshot (v0.1.1)

Version
v0.1.1
Status
Informational Draft
Initial Publication
2025-11-14
Last Updated
2025-11-18

The AI Domain Data Standard defines a simple, authoritative JSON document that any domain owner can publish to describe their identity to AI systems. The design is intentionally narrow—similar in spirit to RFC 9116 (security.txt)—with a single canonical record that requires no SaaS dependencies and no vendor lock-in. Version v0.1.1 is scoped strictly to identity fields and establishes the baseline structure and retrieval process for future extensions.

Scope of v0.1.1

Identity fields included in this draft:

  • name
  • description
  • website
  • logo (optional)
  • contact
  • entity_type (optional)
  • jsonld (optional)

v0.1.1 (backward-compatible with v0.1) is published as an Informational Draft. Future versions will follow the same versioned-document and public change-tracking model used here.

Full Specification

Read the complete v0.1.1 specification document →

The full specification includes detailed field definitions, examples, resolution rules, and interoperability guidelines.

Resources

Resolution Order

  1. Primary Source: Retrieve https://<domain>/.well-known/domain-profile.json.
  2. Secondary Source: Query the DNS TXT record at _ai.<domain>.
  3. Authoritative Rule: When both sources exist, the HTTPS document served at /.well-known/domain-profile.json is authoritative.

Base64 & Canonicalization Requirements

When publishing the DNS TXT variant, publishers MUST:

  • Encode the UTF-8 JSON using the standard Base64 alphabet (no URL-safe variant).
  • Not insert line breaks.
  • Split TXT values at ≤255 characters.

For both HTTPS and DNS variants:

  • Omit optional fields when unused.
  • Do not include additional, undefined properties.
  • Preserve URLs exactly as provided (including trailing slashes).
  • Resolvers MUST treat field values as canonical and SHOULD NOT rewrite whitespace or the organization of the JSON object aside from parsing.

Document Structure

  • Introduction & Terminology
  • JSON Schema and Field Definitions
  • Publishing Instructions (HTTPS + DNS TXT)
  • Resolution & Validation Rules
  • Canonicalization Requirements
  • Security Considerations
  • Appendix: Outreach Briefs & Ecosystem Roadmap

Contributing

All discussion, proposals, and revisions are tracked publicly in the specification repository: https://github.com/ai-domain-data/spec.

Submit issues or pull requests referencing the affected section or schema version. Versioned drafts and change logs are maintained transparently.