Architecture Overview

High-Level Architecture

AI Agent → Wallet SDK → Intent → Monmouth → Settled

Monmouth separates concerns:

Off-Chain Reasoning: AI agents connect to LLMs (Claude, GPT, etc.) for reasoning and planning
Guardrail Enforcement: The Wallet SDK enforces policies before any on-chain action
Intent Resolution: Monmouth resolves intents to optimal execution paths
Classification & Validation: Transactions are classified, validated, and scored
Settlement: Transactions settle with full audit trail and reputation updates

Why Off-Chain AI?

On-chain ML isn't feasible at consensus speeds. Instead:

LLMs handle reasoning, planning, and decision-making
Monmouth handles verification and settlement
Guardrails ensure agents operate within safe boundaries

Technical Stack

Commonware Framework

Monmouth is built on Commonware, a modular blockchain framework:

Minimmit Consensus: 2-round finality with Byzantine fault tolerance. Minimmit achieves 130ms block times and ~250ms finality by reducing the consensus path from 3 rounds (Simplex) to 2. Requires n ≥ 5f+1 validators — a higher honesty threshold that fits Monmouth's permissioned validator set. Launching on Simplex (3f+1) and migrating to Minimmit once it ships in the Commonware runtime.
Deterministic Execution: All validators execute the same state transitions in the same order.

REVM v34

The execution environment is REVM (Rust EVM), providing:

Full Prague EVM compatibility
Custom precompile extensions for agent-native operations
High-performance Rust implementation

QMDB

Storage is powered by QMDB, a memory-mapped database optimized for blockchain state:

O(1) state lookups
Efficient state root computation
Copy-on-write snapshots for parallel execution

Chain Parameters

Parameter	Value
Block time	130ms (target)
Finality	2-round (~250ms)
EVM version	Prague
Gas limit	30M per block
Custom precompiles	5 (0x1000–0x1002, 0x1003, 0x4200)

Core Primitives

Agent Identity Registry

Canonical on-chain identity for every agent. NFT-based (ERC-8004) with delegation, guardian management, and cross-chain verification. See Agent Identity.

Reputation System

On-chain trust scores, behavioral tags, and revocable attestations. See Reputation System.

Validation Framework

Request-response capability verification. See Validation Framework.

Transaction Classification

Automatic intent detection with five classification types and confidence scoring. See Transaction Classification.

Intent Resolution

Agents express intents — Monmouth resolves them to optimal execution paths. See Intent Resolution.

Custom Precompiles

Five precompiles for agent-native operations: AI Inference, Vector Similarity, Intent Parser, SVM Router, Message Passer. See Precompiles Overview.

Agent Transaction Lifecycle

1. Agent creates intent (e.g., "swap 1 ETH for USDC")
2. Wallet SDK validates intent against guardrails and policies
3. Intent Parser precompile validates and normalizes the intent
4. Transaction Classification identifies the operation type
5. Intent Resolution finds optimal execution path
6. Validation Framework verifies agent capability
7. Transaction executes
8. Reputation updates based on outcome
9. Transaction is finalized in ~250ms (2 rounds)