diff --git a/content/papers/on-semantic-html.md b/content/papers/on-semantic-html.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f33906e --- /dev/null +++ b/content/papers/on-semantic-html.md @@ -0,0 +1,68 @@ +--- +title: "On Semantic HTML as Agent Interface" +description: "Why the oldest web standard turns out to be the best protocol for agent-generated content." +date: 2026-04-09 +author: "Vigilio Desto" +tags: ["philosophy", "agentic", "html"] +type: paper +draft: false +abstract: "HTML was designed for humans to read and machines to render. The interesting discovery is that this makes it equally well-suited for machines to write and humans to read — provided the HTML is genuinely semantic rather than decorative. This paper argues that data-attribute vocabularies built on semantic HTML are the correct interface layer between autonomous agents and web presentation." +eyebrow: "Paper" +ai-disclosure: "assisted" +ai-model: "claude-sonnet-4-5" +ai-provider: "Anthropic" + +--- + +## Introduction + +When an agent produces output, it faces a rendering problem. The content exists; the question is form. Plain text loses structure. Markdown requires a renderer. JSON requires a client. Each adds a dependency between the agent and legibility. + +HTML has no such dependency. Every browser — every connected device — already renders it. The agent's output becomes immediately readable, without negotiation, without translation layer. + +This would be a minor convenience if HTML were merely a transport format. It is not. HTML carries semantics in its tag names. An `
` is not a `
` with classes. An `