Top AI Agent Standards to Know in 2026 (opens in new tab)

Protocols tell agents how to connect. Standards tell them what to know. As the agent ecosystem matures, a second layer of convergence is emerging: open formats that give agents consistent, structured context — about projects, capabilities, and design systems. Unlike protocols (which define communication between systems), these standards are file-based, human-readable, and version-controlled alongside your code. Here are the three standards shaping how agents are informed and extended in 2026....