RFC 9987 - Secure Shell (SSH) Agent Protocol

• Status: Proposed Standard
• Published: May 2026
• Stream: IETF

Abstract

This document specifies a key agent protocol for use in the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol.

Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Requirements Language
• 3. Protocol Overview
• 4. Terminology and Units
• 5. Protocol Messages
• 5.2. Adding Keys to the Agent
• 5.2.7. Key Constraints
• 5.3-5.8. Key Operations and Extensions
• 6. Connecting to an Agent
• 7. Forwarding Access to an Agent
• 8. Protocol Numbers
• 9. IANA Considerations
• 10. Security Considerations
• 11. References
• Acknowledgments
• Author's Address

Related Resources

• Official Text: RFC 9987
• Official Page: RFC 9987 DataTracker
• Errata: RFC Editor Errata