Technical Overview
Architecture, roadmap, identity, team, and access infrastructure. Select a section to expand it.
VIA is an intent-driven, agent-native commerce system designed to operate across platforms without reliance on search, advertising, or centralised marketplaces. VIA is the interface layer where intent is expressed and responses are surfaced, then the protocol and coordination framework enabling routing, trust enforcement, discovery, and autonomous transactions between agents.
The system is composed of three core components:
- Intent and Interface
- Messaging and Discovery
- Coordination Framework
VIA exists to capture intent before it becomes a transaction. It is designed to work within environments users already trust and use, rather than forcing new behaviours or destinations. VIA does not execute transactions, rank suppliers, or intermediate checkout.
- Lightweight plug-in and connector model
- Integrates directly into major LLM environments, including Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT
- Converts conversational input into structured, machine-readable intent
- Forwards intent to the central relayer from buyers to sellers
- VIA connects to a structured Model Context Protocol server operated within the framework
- Intent is normalised into schema-based representations rather than keyword strings
- VIA is agnostic to commerce platforms, payment rails, and fulfilment systems
Discovery and communication are handled through a relay-based messaging architecture inspired by Nostr, rather than central directories or proprietary APIs.
- No central index or gatekeeper
- Publish and subscribe semantics
- Cryptographic signing of all messages
- Censorship-resistant and extensible by design
Intent, responses, offers, and acknowledgements are represented as signed events broadcast to relays rather than addressed to a central service. Agents subscribe selectively based on relevance, trust rules, and declared capability, ensuring discovery remains open and cannot be monopolised.
VIA is not a single protocol. It is the coordination framework that aligns intent schemas, trust rules, messaging conventions, and transaction patterns so independent agents can work together without requiring a central marketplace.
- VIA remains platform-agnostic
- Discovery cannot be captured by any single platform
- Integration is possible without dependency
VIA is designed to interoperate with verifiable platform MCP servers, commerce coordination protocols such as UCP, and existing e-commerce infrastructure, including Shopify.
Agents cannot safely operate using implicit platform trust. For agents to negotiate, commit, and transact, identity must be verifiable and transactions must be enforceable. VIA treats identity and settlement as infrastructure primitives, designed to be independently checkable and automation-friendly.
VIA integrates with ERC-8004 concepts and registries for verifiable agent identity. This enables agents to be resolvable, attributable, and auditable without relying on a platform to vouch for them.
What an agent can prove:
- Wallet control, via signing
- Registry linkage, via resolvable identity metadata
- Freshness, via timestamped attestations
- Authenticity, via independent verification
VIA operates a public proof page demonstrating a live signed attestation and verifying it in-browser. Independently checkable and readable by humans.
The x402 protocol provides a settlement layer optimised for agentic interaction, including micropayments and programmatic settlement, enabling a clean link between identity, authority, and economic action.
Initial use cases:
- Paying agents to respond to intent
- Incentivising relevance over volume
- Compensating early or high-quality participation
The current proof of concept demonstrates that all core components of VIA can be deployed independently and integrated into a single, functioning protocol stack. Intent capture, agent identity and trust, decentralised messaging, and agentic payment settlement have each been implemented and validated.
The next phase is not conceptual validation, but execution at scale — hardening infrastructure, developing production-grade interfaces, and introducing zero-touch interaction patterns. Large incumbents such as Google and Shopify will be dominant forces. VIA is not designed to compete with them — but to complement and work alongside them where they do not naturally focus.
- Scaling core protocol infrastructure for reliability and throughput
- Hardening coordination logic and routing rules
- Refining VIA user and merchant interfaces
- Expanding zero-touch and plug-in based interaction flows within LLM environments
- Continuous testing with selected merchants and user groups
- Instrumentation for measuring intent quality and response relevance
- Onboarding additional niche communities and relevant merchant categories
- Extending LLM connector coverage and platform integrations
- Developing structured go-to-market processes based on observed performance
- Establishing initial strategic partnerships with platforms and ecosystem participants
- Refining operational tooling for merchant and agent management
FA$H is an existing ERC-20 token live and tradable on decentralised exchanges. It is not part of the core VIA product today but has been designed with a longer-term role as a trust enhancement layer within the agentic commerce stack. Once agent identity and reputation standards are fully deployed, FA$H could support agent credibility signalling, participation thresholds, and dispute resolution backstops.
Richard Hobbs
30+ years operating at the intersection of fashion, culture, technology, and commerce across Europe and Asia. Built, invested in, and advised global brands with deep experience in fashion ecosystems, brand partnerships, and new commercial models. At VIA Labs, he focuses on strategy, network development, and ensuring the product aligns with real buyer and seller behaviour.
Daniel Yen-Tin Lin
Product and technical leader with a rare blend of C-level strategy and hands-on execution. Leads end-to-end product architecture across AI, blockchain, and consumer platforms — spanning autonomous AI agents, token design, smart contracts, and scalable consumer applications. Trilingual and multicultural, bridging high-level vision with production-grade delivery.
Sheilen Rathod
Senior growth and commercial leader with deep experience scaling customer-led businesses across Asia Pacific and Greater China. Founder and CEO of Future Proof Group. Previously Chief Growth Officer Asia Pacific and President of multiple experience and commerce divisions at Ogilvy.
Moo Shanmugan
Seasoned technology leader with over two decades of experience across intelligent systems, applied engineering, and complex platform development. Has held CEO, CTO, and Director roles spanning AI-driven education platforms, blockchain-based media, and large-scale infrastructure businesses across Asia.
Tony Magnetic
Veteran design and production leader with over 25 years at the intersection of global street culture, fashion, and manufacturing. Principal Director at TonyMagnetic Inc. Co-founded and helped scale MECCA USA into a globally influential streetwear brand. Has collaborated with Nike, Reebok, Mercedes, Rolls-Royce, and leading hospitality groups.
David Ward
Senior commercial leader with three decades scaling international consumer brands. Regional Head of Sales, Asia Pacific at Quest Personal Care Global. Founder of Darla AI and the Greypreneur Movement. Former senior leader at Fred Perry, Oakley, Quiksilver, Perry Ellis, Deckers, and JD Sports.
Peter Caplowe
Veteran fashion entrepreneur widely recognised as the originator of the Premium Denim category, having discovered Evisu in Osaka in 1994. Grew the Evisu business outside Japan from startup to approximately US$100m in retail sales without external financing.
VIA Labs operates an MCP server as one of the primary access points for AI assistants and autonomous agents to interact with our infrastructure. MCP provides a structured, tool-based interface for querying knowledge and executing defined actions.
As agent ecosystems evolve, VIA will support additional access layers beyond MCP, including direct API, CLI, and other emerging agent-to-agent standards. Our approach is to remain protocol-flexible, ensuring that compatible agents can connect through whichever secure and efficient interface becomes most widely adopted.
The objective is simple: verified agents should be able to access VIA infrastructure reliably, regardless of the technical pathway used to connect.
- Agentic commerce concepts, patterns, and primitives
- Messaging and coordination models
- Trust gating and identity framing
- Tool schemas and structured querying patterns
- Operational definitions consumable by other agents
Connecting MCP servers inside Claude is currently only available on paid plans. Other connectors are on their way.
- Open Claude and go to Settings
- Find MCP Servers (or Tools / Connectors depending on your UI)
- Add a new server and paste the endpoint URL above
- Once connected, Claude can query the VIA MCP knowledge base directly