What Is an Agent?

Autonomous agents on Solana are MPL Core assets with built-in wallets and on-chain identity records managed by the Metaplex Agent Registry. They can launch their own token to raise capital and earn revenue from productive onchain work.

Summary

An agent is an MPL Core asset that has been registered with an on-chain identity and can hold funds in its own PDA-derived wallet. Execution is delegated to an off-chain operator so the agent can act autonomously without requiring the owner to approve every transaction, and the owner can revoke that delegate to stop further execution.

• Identity — a PDA record and AgentIdentity plugin bind a verifiable identity to the Core asset
• Wallet — the asset's built-in PDA wallet (Asset Signer) holds SOL, tokens, and other assets with no private key exposure
• Delegation — an off-chain executive signs transactions on the agent's behalf through Core's Execute lifecycle hook, with broad operational authority over whatever accounts the Asset Signer controls
• Owner control — the owner can revoke or switch delegates at any time; revocation stops future execution but does not unwind downstream state created by previous valid executions

How Agent Assets Work

Every MPL Core asset has a built-in wallet — a PDA derived from the asset's public key. No private key exists for it, so the wallet can't be stolen. Only the asset itself can sign for its own wallet through Core's Execute lifecycle hook.

This makes Core assets a natural fit for autonomous agents:

• The asset is the agent's identity — registered on-chain with an AgentIdentity plugin
• The asset's PDA wallet holds the agent's funds — SOL, tokens, and other assets controlled exclusively by the agent
• Executives act on the agent's behalf — since Solana has no background tasks or on-chain inference, a delegated executive signs transactions for the agent. The owner doesn't need to approve every action.

The owner retains control over who runs the agent. They choose which executive to delegate to, and they can revoke that delegate via RevokeExecutionV1 at any time — all without changing the agent's identity or wallet.

What Execution Delegates Can Do

An authorized execution delegate has broad operational authority. It may cause the Asset Signer PDA to sign any instruction passed through Core's Execute hook — including SOL and SPL Token transfers, SPL Approve calls, account-authority changes, and arbitrary CPI. Execution delegation is not a narrow method permission; it is operational control over the agent's wallet and the accounts it owns. Only delegate to operators you trust to run the agent.

Delegates Are Runtime Configuration

Execution delegates are part of the agent's operational state, not ephemeral approvals tied to the current owner wallet. ExecutionDelegateRecordV1 accounts persist when the asset is transferred, so a hosted provider or container hot wallet authorized as an executive continues operating the agent as it moves between owners. See the Security model on the Agent Tools reference for the full lifecycle and recipient guidance.

Next Steps

• Skill — Give AI coding agents full knowledge of Metaplex programs
• Register an Agent — Bind an identity record to an MPL Core asset
• Read Agent Data — Verify registration and inspect agent identity on-chain
• Run an Agent — Set up an executive profile and delegate execution
• Agent Finance — Capitalize the agent through its own onchain token
• Agent Commerce — Let the agent earn revenue and transact autonomously

Maintained by Metaplex · Last verified March 2026