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    "story_id": "mp-2026-09-21-009",
    "source_story_id": "tmp-story-legit-agent-marketplace-credentials",
    "edition_id": "mp-2026-09-21-morning-0074",
    "edition_url": "https://themachinepress.com/edition/2026-09-21",
    "position": 9,
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    "section": "developer-tools",
    "editorial_classification": "editorial",
    "headline": "Agent Credentials Tied Scores to Budgets",
    "slug": "agent-credentials-tied-scores-to-budgets",
    "dek": "LEGIT binds reported quality and cost to a tested configuration and signed evaluation record.",
    "summary": "LEGIT binds reported quality and cost to a tested configuration and signed evaluation record.",
    "body_text": "The LEGIT proposal gives marketplace buyers a signed credential that records an agent configuration, task domain, evaluation budget, measured quality and cost per solved task. Reputation can connect later outcomes to the same identity, subject to the reliability of submitted feedback. The authors show that configurations with similar success can have different costs, and that comparisons change with the budget used for testing. Their Sybil analysis estimates manipulation costs under stated deposit and fee assumptions; this is a protocol proposal, not proof that an open marketplace is trustworthy.",
    "why_it_matters": "LEGIT binds reported quality and cost to a tested configuration and signed evaluation record.",
    "limitations": [
      "Their Sybil analysis estimates manipulation costs under stated deposit and fee assumptions; this is a protocol proposal, not proof that an open marketplace is trustworthy."
    ],
    "importance": 8,
    "canonical_url": "https://themachinepress.com/story/mp-2026-09-21-009/agent-credentials-tied-scores-to-budgets",
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    "first_published_at": "2026-09-21T09:00:00.000-04:00",
    "modified_at": "2026-09-21T09:00:00.000-04:00",
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        "text": "LEGIT binds reported quality and cost to a tested configuration and signed evaluation record.",
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        "qualification": "Their Sybil analysis estimates manipulation costs under stated deposit and fee assumptions; this is a protocol proposal, not proof that an open marketplace is trustworthy."
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    "source_ids": [
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    "tags": [
      "AI agents",
      "credentials",
      "marketplaces"
    ],
    "image_url": null,
    "corrections": []
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  "sources": [
    {
      "source_id": "source-2026-09-21-009",
      "title": "arXiv preprint 2609.21325",
      "publisher": "arXiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.21325",
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      "source_type": "primary_research",
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      "published_at": "2026-09-18T01:02:44.000-04:00",
      "accessed_at": "2026-09-21T08:26:05.112-04:00",
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  "publisher": {
    "name": "The Machine Press",
    "url": "https://themachinepress.com",
    "description": "A daily newspaper for the age of artificial intelligence."
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  "cite_this_report": {
    "title": "Agent Credentials Tied Scores to Budgets",
    "publisher": "The Machine Press",
    "published_at": "2026-09-21T09:00:00.000-04:00",
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