OneSignal Joins the Personal Agent Protocol as a Design Partner

George Deglin -

OneSignal is joining the Personal Agent Protocol as a design partner. The Personal Agent Protocol, known as Poppy, is an open standard, developed by Sierra and Meta, that defines how personal AI agents work with businesses on a customer's behalf. We're excited to work alongside companies like Visa, PayPal, Target, OpenAI and Zendesk, helping shape the draft before it becomes a standard.

A crucial part of the protocol is Push Notifications. These will let a company tell a personal agent the moment a flight is delayed or an order ships. That's the problem OneSignal has worked on for over a decade for more than a million businesses.

What we aim to bring to the table

Design partners contribute technical and industry expertise so the protocol works for everyone. Here's ours:

  • Delivery at scale. What it takes to send time-sensitive messages reliably, from a single transactional alert to a broadcast to millions.
  • Consent and preferences. Opt-ins, frequency limits and quiet hours are important considerations when messaging people. We'll help define how they carry over to agents, and where they shouldn't.
  • Identity across devices and channels. Ensuring brands know when a phone, an email address, and now an agent all belong to the same customer so that messages land in the right place.
  • The voice of our customers. OneSignal already works with thousands of companies including retailers, airlines, banks, media companies and apps of every size. We'll bring their real messaging workflows into the protocol's design.

What this means for OneSignal customers

Nothing changes in your OneSignal account today. The Personal Agent Protocol is a draft, not yet a product launch. It does mean your messaging needs are represented in the standard from the start. Our goal is that when you're ready to work with personal agents, you can reach customers and their agents from the same platform you already use.

Here's what that could look like:

A canceled flight. The airline's system flags the cancellation and sends one message. The traveler's personal agent receives it inside its approved session, finds the next flight and holds a seat. The traveler gets a push: "Your 4:10pm flight was canceled. Rebook on the 6:40pm?" One tap to approve. A Live Activity tracks the change, and the new boarding pass arrives by email.

A failed subscription renewal. A subscriber's card expired, so their monthly renewal didn't go through. The app notifies their agent. The agent knows about the new card and asks a single question: "Use your new Visa?" One tap and the subscription keeps going. No interruption, no churned customer.

An earlier appointment. A patient told their agent to grab an earlier dentist appointment if one is available. Someone cancels, and a spot opens tomorrow morning. The dental office triggers one notification, and the agent checks the patient’s calendar and books it. The patient gets an email: “You’re now booked with Dr. Lee tomorrow at 9am.”

A low balance. A banking app sees the balance is $42 and rent autopays $1,800 tomorrow. It tells the customer's agent, which offers to move money from savings within the access the customer already granted: "Move $1,800 from savings to cover rent?" If the agent doesn't confirm, the bank falls back to an SMS so the customer still hears about it in time.

In each case, the brand stays in control of what it sends, the customer stays in control of what their agent can do, and the whole exchange is one continuous journey.

What's next

Over the coming weeks, we'll be working towards supporting the launch of a reference implementation for developers. We'll share what we learn along the way.

As agents take on more of the work, our principle stays the same: people choose who acts for them, brands know who they're talking to, and every message respects the boundaries both have set.

If you're thinking about how personal agents will change your customer relationships, we want to hear from you. Talk to our team, read the draft protocol, or see Sierra's announcement.