---
title: ".iblai Agent File Format: Portable Agent Definitions"
slug: "standard-agent-file-format"
date: "2025-02-20"
tag: "Application"
summary: "A Markdown-based portable agent definition format. One file captures everything needed to define, share, and load an AI agent across tools, teams, and platforms."
author: "ibl.ai Engineering"
repo: "iblai/standard"
---

The **.iblai Standard** defines a portable agent file format built on Markdown. A single `.iblai` file captures everything needed to define, share, and load an AI agent:

- **System prompt** and persona
- **Tool configurations** (MCP servers, API endpoints, functions)
- **Knowledge sources** (documents, URLs, embeddings)
- **Guardrails** and safety constraints
- **Metadata** (name, description, author, version)

### Why a Standard Format?

Agent definitions are fragmented across platforms. Every tool has its own format — JSON configs, YAML manifests, proprietary UIs. The `.iblai` format provides a **single, human-readable file** that works everywhere.

### Interactive CLI Wizard

Build `.iblai` files interactively:

```bash
npx iblai-standard create my-agent
```

The wizard walks you through each section, generating a complete agent definition file.

### Example

```markdown
---
name: Research Assistant
version: 1.0.0
author: team@example.com
---

# System Prompt

You are a research assistant that helps users find and synthesize academic papers.

# Tools

## arxiv-search
- type: mcp
- url: https://mcp.example.com/arxiv

# Guardrails

- Do not fabricate citations
- Always include DOI links when available
```

### Standard v1.0

The specification is stable at v1.0. Contributions and feedback welcome on GitHub.