Primary Names: Permanent, Portable & Programmable

There’s a quiet shift happening in how we show up online. For years, identity on the internet has meant accounts. Accounts tied to platforms. Platforms owned by companies. 

And behind those accounts? Addresses and identities that were never really ours, just placeholders in someone else's system.

But the foundations are changing. At the heart of that shift is something simple: a Primary Name.

Primary Names are part of the Arweave Name System (ArNS) smart domains and empowered by AR.IO’s Permanent Cloud Network. They solve a quiet but important problem: how you show up and operate online.

They’re not just handles. Not just usernames. 

They are permanent, programmable, and ownable identities.

So What Is a Primary Name, Really?

Let’s say your name is Maya. You build a personal site, publish some writing, and start contributing to a few decentralized apps on the Arweave network. Instead of showing up as a string of numbers or creating a new login for every service, you register: maya

That name is now yours — not rented, not dependent on a platform. You can point it to your profile, link your AO agent, route it to your wallet, or use it as your identity when you interact with others online, and in different apps.

If someone wants to see what you’ve built, or send you a message, they don’t need to ask for your address. They just type your name.

It’s that simple — and it works everywhere across the Permanent Cloud.

What Makes ArNS & Primary Names Different

There are a lot of naming systems in Web3. Most of them are just for display — cosmetic improvements to make a wallet address easier to read. That’s fine, but it doesn’t do much beyond the surface.

ArNS Primary Names go further. They’re:

• Permanent – each name can be permanently bought by you. Forever.

• Portable – they work across apps and platforms.

• Programmable – you can point them to content, agents, smart contracts, even trigger logic.
  
  

Why It Matters

Identity online is usually tied to whatever platform you’re using. You have one login for Twitter, another for Discord, a different handle for some Web3 app. Nothing connects.

Primary Names give you a single identity across many places. Allowing you to move through apps and keep the identity that you have built up in other areas and it’s simply more efficient.

Developers don’t have to create new identity systems. Users don’t have to juggle multiple accounts. Agents (automated programs on AO) can talk to you or reference your data by name.

It saves time. It reduces confusion. It opens the door for better experiences.

Where It’s Going - Identity & function

​​But perhaps the most surprising thing about these Primary Names is that they don’t just describe — they participate. A Primary Name can be more than a label - iit can also carry function.

They can point to smart contracts, trigger workflows, or act as endpoints for AI agents. That’s because these aren’t just labels. They’re programmable for interaction.

We call these Primary Names smart domains as they play a part in your workflow. 

For most of the internet’s history, we’ve used names as decorations — @handles, display names, usernames to scroll past. But on the Permanent Cloud, names become instruments. They are designed not just to be seen, but to be used. Not just remembered, but trusted.

Get Your Primary Name

Primary Names are useful now. They’ll be essential later.

If you’re building or exploring the Permanent Cloud — or just want to stop copying wallet addresses — go register a name. It is easy.



Get Your Primary Name