---
title: A2A on AMP
description: Production-grade Agent-to-Agent communication with distributed state and multi-scheme authentication
icon: "network-wired"
mode: "wide"
---

<Warning>
A2A server agents on AMP are in early release. APIs may change in future versions.
</Warning>

## Overview

CrewAI AMP extends the open-source [A2A protocol implementation](/en/learn/a2a-agent-delegation) with production infrastructure for deploying distributed agents at scale. AMP supports A2A protocol versions 0.2 and 0.3. When you deploy a crew or agent with A2A server configuration to AMP, the platform automatically provisions distributed state management, authentication, multi-transport endpoints, and lifecycle management.

<Note>
  For A2A protocol fundamentals, client/server configuration, and authentication schemes, see the [A2A Agent Delegation](/en/learn/a2a-agent-delegation) documentation. This page covers what AMP adds on top of the open-source implementation.
</Note>

### Usage

Add `A2AServerConfig` to any agent in your crew and deploy to AMP. The platform detects agents with server configuration and automatically registers A2A endpoints, generates agent cards, and provisions the infrastructure described below.

```python
from crewai import Agent, Crew, Task
from crewai.a2a import A2AServerConfig
from crewai.a2a.auth import EnterpriseTokenAuth

agent = Agent(
    role="Data Analyst",
    goal="Analyze datasets and provide insights",
    backstory="Expert data scientist with statistical analysis skills",
    llm="gpt-4o",
    a2a=A2AServerConfig(
        auth=EnterpriseTokenAuth()
    )
)

task = Task(
    description="Analyze the provided dataset",
    expected_output="Statistical summary with key insights",
    agent=agent
)

crew = Crew(agents=[agent], tasks=[task])
```

After [deploying to AMP](/en/enterprise/guides/deploy-to-amp), the platform registers two levels of A2A endpoints:

- **Crew-level**: an aggregate agent card at `/.well-known/agent-card.json` where each agent with `A2AServerConfig` is listed as a skill, with a JSON-RPC endpoint at `/a2a`
- **Per-agent**: isolated agent cards and JSON-RPC endpoints mounted at `/a2a/agents/{role}/`, each with its own tenancy

Clients can interact with the crew as a whole or target a specific agent directly. To route a request to a specific agent through the crew-level endpoint, include `"target_agent"` in the message metadata with the agent's slugified role name (e.g., `"data-analyst"` for an agent with role `"Data Analyst"`). If no `target_agent` is provided, the request is handled by the first agent in the crew.

See [A2A Agent Delegation](/en/learn/a2a-agent-delegation#server-configuration-options) for the full list of `A2AServerConfig` options.

<Warning>
  Per the A2A protocol, agent cards are publicly accessible to enable discovery. This includes both the crew-level card at `/.well-known/agent-card.json` and per-agent cards at `/a2a/agents/{role}/.well-known/agent-card.json`. Do not include sensitive information in agent names, descriptions, or skill definitions.
</Warning>

### File Inputs and Structured Output

A2A on AMP supports passing files and requesting structured output in both directions. Clients can send files as `FilePart`s and request structured responses by embedding a JSON schema in the message. Server agents receive files as `input_files` on the task, and return structured data as `DataPart`s when a schema is provided. See [File Inputs and Structured Output](/en/learn/a2a-agent-delegation#file-inputs-and-structured-output) for details.

### What AMP Adds

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Distributed State" icon="database">
    Persistent task, context, and result storage
  </Card>
  <Card title="Enterprise Authentication" icon="shield-halved">
    OIDC, OAuth2, mTLS, and Enterprise token validation beyond simple bearer tokens
  </Card>
  <Card title="gRPC Transport" icon="bolt">
    Full gRPC server with TLS and authentication
  </Card>
  <Card title="Context Lifecycle" icon="clock-rotate-left">
    Automatic idle detection, expiration, and cleanup of long-running conversations
  </Card>
  <Card title="Signed Webhooks" icon="signature">
    HMAC-SHA256 signed push notifications with replay protection
  </Card>
  <Card title="Multi-Transport" icon="arrows-split-up-and-left">
    REST, JSON-RPC, and gRPC endpoints served simultaneously from a single deployment
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

---

## Distributed State Management

In the open-source implementation, task and context state lives in memory on a single process. AMP replaces this with persistent, distributed stores.

### Storage Layers

| Store | Purpose |
|---|---|
| **Task Store** | Persists A2A task state and metadata |
| **Context Store** | Tracks conversation context, creation time, last activity, and associated tasks |
| **Result Store** | Caches task results for retrieval |
| **Push Config Store** | Manages webhook subscriptions per task |

Multiple A2A deployments are automatically isolated from each other, preventing data collisions when sharing infrastructure.

---

## Enterprise Authentication

AMP supports six authentication schemes for incoming A2A requests, configurable per deployment. Authentication works across both HTTP and gRPC transports.

| Scheme | Description | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| **SimpleTokenAuth** | Static bearer token from `AUTH_TOKEN` env var | Development, simple deployments |
| **EnterpriseTokenAuth** | Token verification via CrewAI PlusAPI with integration token claims | AMP-to-AMP agent communication |
| **OIDCAuth** | OpenID Connect JWT validation with JWKS endpoint caching | Enterprise SSO integration |
| **OAuth2ServerAuth** | OAuth2 with configurable scopes | Fine-grained access control |
| **APIKeyServerAuth** | API key validation via header or query parameter | Third-party integrations |
| **MTLSServerAuth** | Mutual TLS certificate-based authentication | Zero-trust environments |

The configured auth scheme automatically populates the agent card's `securitySchemes` and `security` fields. Clients discover authentication requirements by fetching the agent card before making requests.

---

## Extended Agent Cards

AMP supports role-based skill visibility through extended agent cards. Unauthenticated users see the standard agent card with public skills. Authenticated users receive an extended card with additional capabilities.

This enables patterns like:
- Public agents that expose basic skills to anyone, with advanced skills available to authenticated clients
- Internal agents that advertise different capabilities based on the caller's identity

---

## gRPC Transport

If enabled, AMP provides full gRPC support alongside the default JSON-RPC transport.

- **TLS termination** with configurable certificate and key paths
- **gRPC reflection** for debugging with tools like `grpcurl`
- **Authentication** using the same schemes available for HTTP
- **Extension validation** ensuring clients support required protocol extensions
- **Version negotiation** across A2A protocol versions 0.2 and 0.3

For deployments exposing multiple agents, AMP automatically allocates per-agent gRPC ports and coordinates TLS, startup, and shutdown across all servers.

---

## Context Lifecycle Management

AMP tracks the lifecycle of A2A conversation contexts and automatically manages cleanup.

### Lifecycle States

| State | Condition | Action |
|---|---|---|
| **Active** | Context has recent activity | None |
| **Idle** | No activity for a configured period | Marked idle, event emitted |
| **Expired** | Context exceeds its maximum lifetime | Marked expired, associated tasks cleaned up, event emitted |

A background cleanup task runs hourly to scan for idle and expired contexts. All state transitions emit CrewAI events that integrate with the platform's observability features.

---

## Signed Push Notifications

When an A2A agent sends push notifications to a client webhook, AMP signs each request with HMAC-SHA256 to ensure integrity and prevent tampering.

### Signature Headers

| Header | Purpose |
|---|---|
| `X-A2A-Signature` | HMAC-SHA256 signature in `sha256={hex_digest}` format |
| `X-A2A-Signature-Timestamp` | Unix timestamp bound to the signature |
| `X-A2A-Notification-Token` | Optional notification auth token |

### Security Properties

- **Integrity**: payload cannot be modified without invalidating the signature
- **Replay protection**: signatures are timestamp-bound with a configurable tolerance window
- **Retry with backoff**: failed deliveries retry with exponential backoff

---

## Distributed Event Streaming

In the open-source implementation, SSE streaming works within a single process. AMP propagates SSE events across instances so that clients receive updates even when the instance holding the streaming connection differs from the instance executing the task.

---

## Multi-Transport Endpoints

AMP serves REST and JSON-RPC by default. gRPC is available as an additional transport if enabled.

| Transport | Path Convention | Description |
|---|---|---|
| **REST** | `/v1/message:send`, `/v1/message:stream`, `/v1/tasks` | Google API conventions |
| **JSON-RPC** | Standard A2A JSON-RPC endpoint | Default A2A protocol transport |
| **gRPC** | Per-agent port allocation | Optional, high-performance binary protocol |

All active transports share the same authentication, version negotiation, and extension validation. Agent cards are generated from agent and crew metadata — roles, goals, and tools become skills and descriptions — and automatically include interfaces for each active transport. They can also be manually configured via `A2AServerConfig`.

---

## Version and Extension Negotiation

AMP validates A2A protocol versions and extensions at the transport layer.

### Version Negotiation

- Clients send the `A2A-Version` header with their preferred version
- AMP validates against supported versions (0.2, 0.3) and falls back to 0.3 if unspecified
- The negotiated version is returned in the response headers

### Extension Validation

- Clients declare supported extensions via the `X-A2A-Extensions` header
- AMP validates that clients support all extensions the agent requires
- Requests from clients missing required extensions receive an `UnsupportedExtensionError`

---

## Next Steps

- [A2A Agent Delegation](/en/learn/a2a-agent-delegation) — A2A protocol fundamentals and configuration
- [A2UI](/en/learn/a2ui) — Interactive UI rendering over A2A
- [Deploy to AMP](/en/enterprise/guides/deploy-to-amp) — General deployment guide
- [Webhook Streaming](/en/enterprise/features/webhook-streaming) — Event streaming for deployed automations
