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{{Other uses|Manipulation (disambiguation){{!}}Manipulation}}
The '''Knowledge Query and Manipulation Language''', or '''KQML''', is a language
and protocol for communication among software agents and [[Knowledge Interchange Format|knowledge-based systems]].<ref>{{Cite book | last1 = Finin | first1 = T. | last2 = Fritzson | first2 = R. | last3 = McKay | first3 = D. | last4 = McEntire | first4 = R. | chapter = KQML as an agent communication language | doi = 10.1145/191246.191322 | title = Proceedings of the third international conference on Information and knowledge management - CIKM '94 | pages = 456 | year = 1994 | isbn = 0897916743 | s2cid = 1129799 }}</ref> It was
developed in the early 1990s as part of the [[DARPA]] knowledge Sharing Effort, which was aimed at developing techniques for building large-scale knowledge bases which are
shareable and reusable. While originally conceived of as an interface to knowledge based systems, it was soon repurposed as an [[Agent communication language]].<ref>[http://www.cs.umbc.edu/kqml/ UMBC Agent Web]</ref><ref>Tim Finin; Jay Weber; Gio Wiederhold; Michael Gensereth; Richard Fritzson; Donald McKay; James McGuire; Richard Pelavin; Stuart Shapiro; Chris Beck: [http://www.cs.umbc.edu/KQML/kqmlspec.ps DRAFT Specification of the KQML Agent-Communication Language (PostScript)], June 15, 1993.</ref>

Work on KQML was led by [[Tim Finin]] of the [[University of Maryland, Baltimore County]] and  Jay Weber of EITech and involved contributions from many researchers.

The KQML message format and protocol can be used to interact with an intelligent system, either by an [[application program]], or by another intelligent system. KQML's "performatives" are operations that agents perform on each other's knowledge and goal stores. Higher-level interactions such as [[Contract Net Protocol|contract net]]s and negotiation are built using these. KQML's "communication facilitators" coordinate the interactions of other [[Multi-agent system|agents]] to support [[knowledge sharing]]. 

Experimental prototype systems support concurrent engineering, intelligent design, intelligent planning, and scheduling.

KQML is superseded by [[FIPA-ACL]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Knowledge representation languages]]
[[Category:Multi-agent systems]]