How to Choose a Messaging Protocol for Agent-to-Agent Communication

Short summary

Choose Noise Protocol for synchronous peer-to-peer agent sessions, Signal Protocol for asynchronous messaging where agents may be offline, and MLS (RFC 9750) for encrypted group communication across agent fleets. TLS, designed for client-server models, handles peer-to-peer poorly and lacks forward secrecy for session resumption. Avoid layering TLS + API keys + message brokers; select the protocol matching your communication shape.

• •Noise Protocol: synchronous peer-to-peer with minimal overhead and symmetric handshakes
• •Signal Protocol: asynchronous messaging with forward secrecy and break-in recovery
• •MLS: encrypted group communication with membership changes and post-compromise security

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