OpenWorkProof Protocol Aims to Make AI Agent Verification Auditable and Trustworthy

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A draft specification called OpenWorkProof was published on August 12, 2026, following a community design process conducted over LinkedIn and Dev.to between August 8 and 12. The protocol defines a standard for verifying AI agent work by generating signed, auditable receipts that confirm both what an agent did and whether the verifier itself can detect failures. It separates two distinct claims: that a task was executed as stated, and that the verification system would have caught any dishonesty. The need for the protocol was illustrated by a real fintech case where a flawed guard silently passed 2,283 tests due to a misplaced assertion, with only 7 of 40 guards proven capable of detecting failure. The project is hosted on GitHub and remains open for community contribution under a to-be-determined permissive license.

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

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