# The OpenWOP protocol

> Source: https://openwop.dev/protocol/ · OpenWOP, the open-source protocol for multi-agent workflow orchestration.

Everything that defines OpenWOP (the wire contract, how it changes, its security posture, and the project behind it) is linked from this page.

## Specification

The normative wire contract. **v2** is the current major, cut 2026-09-05.

- **[v2 spec corpus →](https://openwop.dev/spec/v2/)** — the normative core documents, plus the optional extension families.
- **[REST API reference →](https://openwop.dev/api/rest/)** — every endpoint with request, response, and error envelope, rendered from `api/v2/openapi.yaml`.
- **[Profiles →](https://openwop.dev/profiles/)** — the three named profiles a host can claim. Everything else is advertised as an individual [capability](https://openwop.dev/spec/v2/core/capabilities.html).

## Comparisons and positioning

Where OpenWOP sits relative to adjacent agent protocols.

- **[A2A vs MCP vs OpenWOP →](https://openwop.dev/comparisons/a2a-openwop-mcp/)** — a specification-level comparison of agent-to-agent collaboration, tool/context integration, and durable workflow orchestration.
- **[Tool calling →](https://openwop.dev/tool-calling/)** — what tool calling standardizes, and the four surfaces OpenWOP adds on top of it: catalog, durable invocation events, fail-closed authorization, and effect idempotency.
- **[OpenExO 3.0 and OpenWOP →](https://openwop.dev/comparisons/openexo-3-openwop/)** — an architecture thesis for using OpenWOP as the durable execution protocol beneath OpenExO 3.0, the Intelligence Stack, REWRITE, and Edge Twins.
- **[Overview & axioms →](https://openwop.dev/spec/v2/core/overview.html)** — the six axioms, the claim vocabulary, and the rule deciding what is core and what is an extension.

## Conformance

How a host proves it implements the spec.

- **[Conformance leaderboard →](https://openwop.dev/conformance/)** — which hosts pass which scenarios.
- **[Conformance suite →](https://github.com/openwop/openwop/tree/main/conformance)** — `@openwop/openwop-conformance`, the test suite behind every leaderboard row.
- **[Error codes →](https://openwop.dev/errors/)** — the canonical error vocabulary every conforming host emits.

## RFCs

How the protocol evolves.

- **[RFC index →](https://openwop.dev/rfcs/)** — every RFC and its status. Within a major, changes are additive only.
- **[RFC process →](https://openwop.dev/rfcs/0001-rfc-process.html)** — how an RFC moves from Draft to Accepted, and how comment windows work.

## Governance

Who decides what gets in, and how.

- **[Governance →](https://openwop.dev/governance/)** — decision rules, role definitions, the sole-steward operating rules, and the conditions for moving to a cross-vendor working group.
- **[Maintainers →](https://openwop.dev/maintainers/)** — who the maintainers are, and how they are added or removed.
- **[Contributing →](https://openwop.dev/contributing/)** — change rules (editorial, additive, safety fix, breaking), the checks every pull request must pass, and the DCO sign-off.

## Security

What's promised, what's threat-modelled, and how to report a vulnerability.

- **[Security posture →](https://openwop.dev/security/)** — threat model, disclosure policy, public invariants (CTI-1, SR-1, MCP-1).
- **[GitHub Security Advisories →](https://github.com/openwop/openwop/security/advisories/new)** — coordinated disclosure channel for vulnerabilities.

## Versioning and roadmap

What's stable, what's planned, what's tracked but not committed.

- **[Versioning policy →](https://openwop.dev/versioning/)** — additive within a major, the 90-day safety-fix window, breaking changes only in major versions.
- **[Changelog →](https://github.com/openwop/openwop/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md)** — every spec, schema, SDK, and reference-host change with its compatibility classification.
- **[Roadmap →](https://openwop.dev/roadmap/)** — where the protocol is heading. Direction, not promises.

## See also

- [Community](https://openwop.dev/community/) — channels, comment windows, and how to file an RFC.
- [Implementing OpenWOP](https://openwop.dev/implement/) — the four role-specific entry points.
- [Read the paper](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20576239) — *OpenWOP: A Vendor-Neutral Protocol for Durable, Portable Agentic Workflow Orchestration* (Zenodo, CC BY 4.0): the protocol-level argument, a reproducible cross-language portability result, and the full evidence artifact.