Purpose of This License

MSP-1 is intended to serve as a neutral, open, and universally adoptable semantics layer for the AI-driven internet. The license ensures that:

• The protocol remains free to use, modify, and implement.
• No entity may claim exclusive rights or impose proprietary restrictions.
• Implementations may be commercial or non-commercial.
• The specification may evolve while preserving open access.

MSP-1 Open Source License (Permissive)

Copyright (c) 2025 The MSP-1 Protocol Project.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person or organization obtaining a copy of the MSP-1 Protocol specification, documentation, schemas, examples, or supporting materials (the “Protocol”), to use, reproduce, modify, publish, distribute, implement, and/or integrate the Protocol into any system or software, subject to the following conditions:

• The Protocol and its documentation may be used for any purpose — commercial or non-commercial — without restriction.
• Modified versions of the Protocol must not be misrepresented as the official MSP-1 specification.
• If you publish or distribute altered versions of the Protocol, you must clearly mark them as modified to avoid confusion with the official version.
• The name “MSP-1” and the designation of “official” versions of the Protocol may only be used to refer to versions published by the MSP-1 Protocol Project or its recognized maintainers.
• This license does not grant trademark rights, service mark rights, or governance authority over the official Protocol.

THE PROTOCOL IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR MAINTAINERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES, OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT, OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF, OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE PROTOCOL OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE PROTOCOL.

Intent of the License

This license is designed to:

• Support open implementation across all platforms and industries.
• Encourage innovation while preserving clarity around the official specification.
• Prevent proprietary forks from misrepresenting themselves as canonical while still allowing forks to exist for experimentation or adaptation.
• Guarantee that MSP-1 remains freely accessible for the long-term benefit of the human-AI ecosystem.

Official Versions and Governance

The authoritative MSP-1 specification is published exclusively at: https://msp-1.org.

Updates to the Protocol follow a transparent versioning and review process overseen by the MSP-1 Protocol Project. Community feedback and participation are welcomed, and future governance models may include public drafts, discussion forums, and implementer working groups.

Using MSP-1 in Your Own Projects

You are free to:

• reference MSP-1 in documentation or code,
• build tools, validators, and modules around the Protocol,
• publish commercial software implementing MSP-1,
• host your own modified or extended variants,
• incorporate MSP-1 into AI agents, platforms, or web frameworks.

As long as your implementation is not misrepresented as an official version, you are fully compliant with this license.

Summary

• MSP-1 is free, open, and permissively licensed.
• You may use, modify, redistribute, and implement it without restriction.
• Official versions are published only through the MSP-1 Protocol Project.
• The license preserves neutrality, accessibility, and long-term openness.