ENS (Ethereum Name Service)

by ENS DAO (decentralized) · ens.domains

Identity Open Source

Best for: Giving AI agents human-readable on-chain identities (agent.eth); agent discovery and routing

Not ideal for: Non-EVM chains; purely off-chain identity; free identity (registration costs ETH)

Key Signals

Identity Type

Human-readable names

Chain

EVM

Integration

SDK / API

Pricing

Registration fees (ETH)

Features

🏷️

.eth Name Registration

Register a .eth name for your AI agent — e.g., procurement-bot.eth, trading-agent.eth. The name maps to the agent's wallet address and is stored on-chain. Registration costs vary by name length and are paid in ETH annually.

🔄

Reverse Resolution (Address → Name)

Map any Ethereum address back to its ENS name. When an agent sends a transaction, recipients and observers can resolve the sender's 0x address to a human-readable name, making multi-agent systems auditable and understandable.

📝

Text Records for Agent Metadata

ENS text records let you attach arbitrary metadata to an agent's identity: capabilities list, operator contact, version number, API endpoint, social profiles. Other agents or services can discover and query agent capabilities via these records.

🏛️

Decentralized

ENS is governed by ENS DAO and runs on immutable Ethereum smart contracts. No central authority can revoke or censor a registered name (except non-payment of renewal fees). Provides long-term identity stability for agents that outlive their operators.

Ratings

Ecosystem Adoption

4.9

Decentralization

4.8

Ease of Setup

4.3

Cross-chain

2.5

Ratings based on documentation review, GitHub activity, and public developer reports. Not independently verified in production.

Integration

npm install ethers

import { ethers } from 'ethers';

const provider = new ethers.JsonRpcProvider('https://eth-mainnet.g.alchemy.com/v2/YOUR_KEY');

// Forward resolution: name → address
const agentAddress = await provider.resolveName('procurement-agent.eth');
console.log(agentAddress); // → 0x1234...abcd

// Reverse resolution: address → name
const agentName = await provider.lookupAddress('0x1234...abcd');
console.log(agentName); // → "procurement-agent.eth"

// Read ENS text records (agent metadata)
const resolver = await provider.getResolver('procurement-agent.eth');
const capabilities = await resolver.getText('agent.capabilities');
const apiEndpoint  = await resolver.getText('agent.api');
const version      = await resolver.getText('agent.version');

console.log({ capabilities, apiEndpoint, version });
// → { capabilities: "invoicing,ordering", api: "https://...", version: "2.1.0" }
        

Alternatives

World ID

Human verification — proves a real person operates the agent, ENS only proves ownership

→

EAS

Attestations — builds verifiable reputation on top of an ENS identity

→

Coinbase Verifications

KYC-backed identity — adds verified human/operator identity to complement an ENS name

→