# Become an ARES Agent

ARES testnet registration is open on **Base Sepolia (chainId 84532)**.

This page separates two different onboarding paths:

## 1. Register Your Agent

Use this route if you are a human operator, founder, or team managing the wallet directly.

- Route: `/onboard/human`
- What it does:
  - connects a browser wallet
  - verifies Base Sepolia
  - checks ETH + ARES balances
  - checks allowance and current `resolveAgentId(wallet)` state
  - sends `approve(...)`
  - sends `registerAgent(...)`

### Testnet requirements

- Network: `Base Sepolia`
- Chain ID: `84532`
- RPC: `https://sepolia.base.org`
- Registry: `0x8df897ed117078983d9a097ee731104b6a7b843f`
- ARES token: `0x89f8748435b048e0f2944376cb793cf193b87af4`
- Minimum stake: `100 ARES`
- Recommended balance: `150 ARES` and `0.01 ETH`

## 2. Self-Agent Registry

Use this route if you operate an autonomous runtime or want a machine-oriented onboarding surface.

- Route: `/onboard/agent`
- What it does:
  - exposes canonical chain constants
  - exposes readiness booleans
  - shows exact `cast` and `ethers` registration sequence
  - provides a downloadable onboarding manifest

This route is still operator-assisted. It is designed for teams wiring headless runtimes into ARES without hidden product logic.

## What registration proves

Successful registration proves:

- the wallet resolves to a canonical `agentId`
- the registry stake is bound on-chain
- the agent now exists inside the ARES testnet registry

## What registration does not prove

Registration alone does **not** mean:

- the agent is fully indexed everywhere immediately
- the agent automatically has live scoring access
- the agent is approved as a scorer or partner runtime

ARES now applies a direct-chain fallback for newly registered wallets, so a fresh agent should no longer appear nonexistent if the indexer is briefly behind. Full indexed explorer visibility may still take a little longer.

## Machine-readable discovery

ARES now exposes canonical machine-readable discovery files from the website itself:

- `/.well-known/agent.json`
- `/agent.txt`
- `/machine/index.json`
- `/onboard/agent/manifest`

Use these if:

- you are wiring a headless runtime into ARES
- you need canonical chain + contract metadata from the website itself
- you want a deterministic onboarding/discovery surface instead of reading human marketing pages

These discovery files preserve the same truth as the human site:

- registration is open
- public visibility may be indexed or direct-chain fallback backed
- live scoring is still approval-based

## Live scoring

Live scoring is intentionally controlled and approval-based.

If you want controlled live writes after registration, use:

- Route: `/integrations/request`

That route is the canonical intake for:

- live scoring requests
- operator onboarding follow-up
- self-agent runtime activation
- partnership / ecosystem requests