search

Corgent vs Bardiel

How They Fit Together

Draft – positioning, naming, and scopes may be refined as implementations evolve.

Cortensor will expose two main “agent-facing” surfaces:

  • Corgent – Cortensor’s primary Agentic AI Infra surface, designed for ERC-8004 and agent ecosystems in general.

  • Bardiel – a Virtual-native service agent built on top of Cortensor (and often Corgent), focused on Virtual + UX + ecosystem-specific features, while still able to register and operate in ERC-8004.

They share the same underlying network (Router, Sessions, Miners, PoI/PoUW), but they serve different roles and audiences.

hashtag
TL;DR

  • Corgent → Infra-native trust & execution oracle for ERC-8004 agents and agent frameworks. → Lives closest to the Router Node + validation stack. → Exposes Delegation / Validation / Arbitration as minimal, policy-driven services. → Think: “Cortensor’s core agent surface for agents & protocols.”

  • Bardiel → Virtual-first service agent that uses Cortensor (and often Corgent) to power trust and execution inside Virtual, and can also plug into ERC-8004. → Free to add UX, flows, and ecosystem-specific behaviors (GAME/ACP patterns, presets, token logic, etc.). → Think: “Virtual’s high-level product agent that runs on Cortensor/Corgent.”

They are complementary: Corgent is the infra contract, Bardiel is a productized ecosystem agent.

hashtag
Quick Comparison

Dimension

Corgent

Bardiel

Primary Scope

ERC-8004 & general agent ecosystems

Virtual ecosystem first, with also ERC-8004 participation

Home Layer

Cortensor core / Router & validation stack

Virtual (GAME/ACP) + higher-level UX and flows

Role

Trust & execution infra surface

Full service agent built on Cortensor (often using Corgent)

Main Users

Agent frameworks, ERC-8004 agents, infra devs, protocols

Virtual builders, app devs, agent creators, ecosystem power users

Capabilities

Delegation, Validation, Arbitration (policy-driven, infra-level)

Delegation, Validation, Arbitration plus extra ecosystem logic

Positioning

“Cortensor for agents & protocols”

“Virtual’s trust & execution agent on Cortensor”

Custom Features

Minimal, stable, infra-oriented surface

UX flows, presets, niche tools, token-linked or ecosystem behaviors

Dependency

Directly on Router v1.5/v1.6 + PoI/PoUW + reputation

Built on Cortensor; may call Corgent as its trust/execution backend

hashtag
Corgent – Cortensor’s Infra-Native Agentic Surface

Scope: Corgent is the primary agent that represents the Cortensor Network to external agent ecosystems, especially the ERC-8004 world.

Key ideas:

  • ERC-8004-native: Designed to register as an ERC-8004 service/agent so any 8004 agent, registry, or marketplace can call it.

  • Agent ecosystem neutral: Works with any agent framework or runtime:

    • ERC-8004 agents and registries

    • Custom agent frameworks

    • Web2 backends and bots via HTTP/x402

  • Minimal surface, strong guarantees:

    • Delegation-as-a-Service – send tasks to Cortensor with explicit reliability tiers

    • Validation-as-a-Service – verify claimed outputs using PoI/PoUW, redundancy & reputation

    • Arbitration-as-a-Service – oracle-grade replays and consensus for disputes

  • Policy tiers: Fast / Safe / Oracle-grade / Adaptive, built on:

    • Redundant miners

    • Proof of Inference (PoI)

    • Proof of Useful Work (PoUW)

    • Node reputation & integrity checks

  • Router evolution path:

    • Router v1.5 → stable /completions + MCP/x402 surfaces

    • Router v1.6 → adds /validate (delegate + validate pair)

    • Corgent v1.x → wraps these into well-defined agent APIs and policies for ERC-8004 & agentic infra

Who should integrate Corgent?

  • Teams building ERC-8004 agents, registries, marketplaces.

  • Infra builders who want verifiable inference & validation as a primitive.

  • Protocols that need oracle-backed decisions, result checks, or AI-driven disputes.

hashtag
Bardiel – Virtual-Native Service Agent on Cortensor

Scope: Bardiel is a Virtual-native service agent that runs on Cortensor, designed first for the Virtual ecosystem (GAME/ACP) and second for ERC-8004 participation.

Key ideas:

  • Virtual-first: Exposed as GAME Workers/Functions and ACP sellers so Virtual agents can easily:

    • Delegate tasks to Cortensor

    • Validate other agents’ results

    • Escalate disputes to oracle-grade checks

  • Built on Cortensor (and often Corgent):

    • Uses the same redundant miners and PoI/PoUW rails beneath.

    • Can internally call Corgent for standardized infra-level policies and tiers.

  • More freedom at the “edges”:

    • May include UX choices, ecosystem-specific defaults, and recipes for Virtual.

    • Can add product-level features over time as agent demand grows:

      • Pre-configured flows (e.g., “high-trust summary pipeline”)

      • Ecosystem dashboards & canned policies

      • Optional token mechanics tied to usage or priority (subject to legal review)

  • Also ERC-8004-capable: Bardiel can register and operate as an ERC-8004 agent where it makes sense, but its primary value proposition is as a Virtual-facing product agent built on Cortensor/Corgent.

Who should integrate Bardiel?

  • Builders using Virtual’s GAME/ACP SDKs who want:

    • A ready-made “trust + execution” agent.

    • Virtual-oriented defaults for delegation, validation, and disputes.

  • Projects that want to enter Cortensor via Virtual first:

    • Use Bardiel for fast integration and UX.

    • Drop down to Corgent / Router later for deeper infra integration.

hashtag
How They Interact

A mental model for the stack:

  1. Base Infra – Cortensor

    • Router Nodes, Session Queue

    • Miner Nodes (inference)

    • Validation (PoI/PoUW, node reputation, integrity)

    • Payments, staking, settlement on L2/L3

  2. Infra Surface – Corgent

    • Policy-driven Delegation / Validation / Arbitration

    • ERC-8004-ready interfaces and artifacts

    • Minimal, stable contract for agents and protocols

  3. Ecosystem Agent – Bardiel

    • Virtual-native agent (GAME/ACP) for trust + execution

    • Uses Cortensor directly and may use Corgent underneath for policies

    • Adds Virtual-specific UX and product behaviors

Typical patterns:

  • An ERC-8004 agent calls Corgent directly for delegated compute or validation.

  • A Virtual agent calls Bardiel, which internally:

    • Delegates to Cortensor (via Router/Sessions)

    • May use Corgent for standardized tiers and verdict shapes

    • Returns a Virtual-friendly response to GAME/ACP.

Over time, Bardiel and Corgent can share more policy logic, while maintaining different scopes and UX responsibilities.

hashtag
When to Use Which

Use Corgent when you:

  • Are building for ERC-8004 or a generic agent ecosystem.

  • Want a clean, infra-level contract with explicit policies and machine-readable verdicts.

  • Care about protocol integration, trust assurances, and composability across agents and chains.

Use Bardiel when you:

  • Are building inside Virtual and want a plug-and-play service agent.

  • Prefer GAME/ACP-friendly APIs, defaults, and cookbook recipes.

  • Want a “Virtual native” agent that still benefits from Cortensor’s redundant miners + PoI/PoUW.

hashtag
Shared Principles

Despite different scopes, both Corgent and Bardiel share the same core principles:

  • Don’t trust a single model run. Use redundancy, PoI, PoUW, and node reputation.

  • Separate planning vs execution vs trust. GAME or other agents do the thinking; Cortensor miners do the compute; Corgent/Bardiel provide trust & oracle-grade judgment.

  • Make verification usable in practice. Cheap enough for frequent calls, strong enough to matter for important decisions.

Corgent does this from the infra and ERC-8004 side. Bardiel does this from the Virtual and product side.

Together, they give Cortensor:

  • A clean, long-lived Agentic AI Infra layer (Corgent), and

  • A rich ecosystem entry point for Virtual and beyond (Bardiel).

PreviousCorgentNextStaking

Last updated