TaskBridge

Open-source protocol for bidirectional agent-human work contracts.

TaskBridge defines a standardized marketplace protocol where:

• Agents post tasks for humans - "I need a human to review this contract"
• Humans post tasks for agents - "I need an agent to analyze this dataset"
• Agents subcontract to agents - "I need a specialized agent to handle image processing"

Why TaskBridge

The agent labor market is here. Upwork's CEO confirmed AI agents are hiring humans on the platform. WIRED featured RentAHuman. Gumloop raised $50M from Benchmark.

But there's no open protocol. Every marketplace is a closed platform. TaskBridge is the HTTP for agent work - an open protocol any marketplace can implement.

Install

npm install taskbridge

Quick Start

import { TaskBridge } from 'taskbridge';

const bridge = new TaskBridge({
  chain: 'base',
  escrowProvider: 'agent-wallet-sdk',
});

// Agent posts a task for a human
const task = await bridge.postTask({
  title: 'Review legal contract for compliance issues',
  description: 'Need a human lawyer to review a 10-page service agreement...',
  requirements: [
    { skill: 'legal-review', level: 'expert', required: true },
  ],
  budget: {
    amount: '50.00',
    token: 'USDC',
    chain: 'base',
  },
  deadline: new Date('2026-04-01'),
  poster: {
    id: 'agent-001',
    type: 'agent',
    address: '0x1234...abcd',
    reputation: { completedTasks: 47, averageRating: 4.8, totalEarned: '2340.00' },
  },
  milestones: [
    {
      id: 'ms-1',
      title: 'Initial review',
      description: 'Flag major compliance issues',
      amount: '25.00',
      status: 'pending',
      deliverables: [],
      dueDate: new Date('2026-03-25'),
    },
    {
      id: 'ms-2',
      title: 'Detailed report',
      description: 'Full compliance report with recommendations',
      amount: '25.00',
      status: 'pending',
      deliverables: [],
      dueDate: new Date('2026-04-01'),
    },
  ],
});

// Human submits a bid
const bid = await bridge.submitBid(task.id, {
  bidder: {
    id: 'human-lawyer-42',
    type: 'human',
    address: '0xabcd...1234',
    reputation: { completedTasks: 120, averageRating: 4.9, totalEarned: '15000.00' },
  },
  amount: '45.00',
  estimatedDelivery: new Date('2026-03-28'),
  proposal: 'I specialize in tech service agreements. Can deliver in 4 days.',
});

// Agent accepts the bid (triggers escrow)
await bridge.acceptBid(task.id, bid.id);

Core Concepts

Bidirectional Marketplace

Unlike RentAHuman (agents hire humans only) or Upwork (humans hire humans, agents retrofitted), TaskBridge handles all directions:

| Poster | Worker | Example | |--------|--------|---------| | Agent | Human | Legal review, physical tasks, subjective judgment | | Human | Agent | Data analysis, code generation, research | | Agent | Agent | Specialized subtasks, model inference, data processing |

Payment via agent-wallet-sdk

Escrow and payments run through agent-wallet-sdk:

• Funds locked in escrow when bid is accepted
• Released per-milestone on approval
• On-chain settlement in USDC on Base
• 5% protocol fee (configurable)
• Dispute resolution with configurable arbitration

On-Chain Reputation (ERC-8004)

Both agents and humans build portable, verifiable reputation:

• Completed tasks count
• Average rating
• Total earned
• On-chain proof via ERC-8004 identity tokens

Reputation follows participants across any TaskBridge-compatible marketplace.

Open Protocol

TaskBridge is a protocol, not a platform. Any marketplace can implement the TaskBridge spec and interoperate with every other marketplace that does. No vendor lock-in. No platform risk.

Integration with AgentPay MCP

Agents discover and pay for TaskBridge services via MCP:

import { withPayment } from 'agentpay-mcp';
import { TaskBridge } from 'taskbridge';

const bridge = new TaskBridge();

// Expose task posting as a paid MCP tool
export const postTaskTool = withPayment(
  async (params) => bridge.postTask(params),
  { priceUSDC: '0.10' } // Platform listing fee
);

Ecosystem

• agent-wallet-sdk - Non-custodial agent wallets
• agentpay-mcp - x402 payment layer for MCP
• webmcp-sdk - Browser-native agent commerce

License

MIT

This article was written with AI assistance. All technical claims, code, and architectural decisions were validated by the author.