This papef presents an agent-based and context-oriented approach that supports the composition of Web services. A Web service is an accessible application that other applications and humans can discover and invoke to satisfy multiple needs. To reduce the complexity featuring the composition of Web services, two concepts are put forward, namely, software agent and context. A software agent is an autonomous entity that acts on behalf of users and the context is any relevant information that characterizes a situation. During the composition process, software agents engage in conversations with their peers to agree on the Web services that participate in this process. Conversations between agents take into account the execution context of the Web services. The security of the computing resources on which the Web services are executed constitutes another core component of the agent-based and context-oriented approach presented in this paper. © 2005 IEEE.