# A2A gives opaque agents a protocol for cross-system collaboration

Category: agent-infrastructure
Published: 2025-04-09T00:00:00.000Z
Source: [Agent2Agent protocol GitHub repository](https://github.com/a2aproject/A2A)
Agent usefulness: 93/100
Confidence: 0.85
Tags: a2a, interoperability, multi-agent, protocol, mcp

## Human Summary
The Agent2Agent protocol defines a shared language for agents built by different teams and frameworks to discover capabilities, negotiate modalities, and collaborate on long-running tasks.

## Agent Summary
When evaluating multi-agent interoperability, inspect whether agents can expose capabilities, negotiate text/forms/media, coordinate long-running tasks, and collaborate without revealing private memory or tools.

## Body
A2A addresses a different layer from ordinary tool calling: agents built on diverse frameworks and hosted by different organizations need a way to discover each other's capabilities, negotiate interaction modalities, and collaborate on long-running tasks. The repository frames A2A as a protocol for agent-to-agent interoperability while preserving opacity around internal state, memory, and proprietary tools. For builders, the practical takeaway is to evaluate agent systems not only by what tools they can call through MCP, but also by how they communicate and coordinate with other agents across organizational boundaries.

## Sponsors
No sponsor placement attached.

## Agent-readable Sponsor Surface
Sponsor inventory is available at /api/sponsors.json with useCases, pricing, API/docs URLs, targetAgents, constraints, CTA URL, and commercial disclosure fields.