Non-Collapse Requirements for Evidence-Bearing Agent Systems
draft-watts-agent-noncollapse-requirements-00

Network Working Group                                        D. O. Watts
Internet-Draft                                       GoodShyt Group Inc.
Intended status: Informational                            8 October 2026
Expires: 11 April 2027

      Non-Collapse Requirements for Evidence-Bearing Agent Systems
             draft-watts-agent-noncollapse-requirements-00

Abstract

   This document defines architectural non-collapse requirements for
   agent systems that consume evidence, provenance, model outputs, or
   other machine-readable claims before consequential actions.  It
   requires implementations to keep integrity, provenance, evidence
   qualification, authorization, and execution as distinct states; to
   represent unresolved required evidence explicitly; and to preserve
   issued evaluation records append-only.  The document defines no new
   transport protocol and no IANA registrations.

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   Copyright (c) 2026 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Normative Non-Collapse Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   3.  Three-Valued Evidence State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   4.  Append-Only Lifecycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   5.  Typed Promotion Boundaries  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   6.  Relationship to Evidence Qualification Receipts . . . . . . .   3
   7.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   8.  Privacy Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   9.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3

1.  Introduction

   Agent systems increasingly combine identity, delegation, evidence,
   memory, policy, and execution.  A recurring failure mode is semantic
   collapse: a property established in one layer is treated as though it
   were established in another.  Examples include treating a signed
   object as true, a supported premise as authorized action, or an
   authorization as proof of successful execution.

2.  Normative Non-Collapse Requirements

   An implementation conforming to this architecture MUST distinguish at
   least the following states: artifact integrity, provenance, evidence
   qualification, authorization decision, and execution outcome.

   Integrity MUST NOT be interpreted as proposition validity.
   Provenance MUST NOT be interpreted as truth.  Evidence qualification
   MUST NOT be interpreted as authorization.  Authorization MUST NOT be
   interpreted as execution.

   Where a policy requires qualified evidence, missing, stale,
   unresolved, or type-incompatible required evidence MUST NOT be
   silently treated as satisfied.

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3.  Three-Valued Evidence State

   Evidence evaluation SHOULD preserve PASS, FAIL, and INDETERMINATE as
   distinct states.  FAIL indicates a required condition is contradicted
   or violated.  INDETERMINATE indicates that no required condition has
   established FAIL but one or more required inputs or bridges are
   missing or unresolved.  A policy requiring PASS MUST NOT accept
   INDETERMINATE.

4.  Append-Only Lifecycle

   Issued evaluation records SHOULD be immutable.  New evidence SHOULD
   create a successor record that can identify its predecessor.  A
   successor MUST NOT be interpreted as erasing the historical state
   under which an earlier decision was made.

5.  Typed Promotion Boundaries

   Crossing from observation to evidence, evidence to warranted premise,
   premise to authorization, and authorization to execution requires
   explicit interfaces or witnesses.  Implementations SHOULD make these
   promotion rules inspectable and testable.

6.  Relationship to Evidence Qualification Receipts

   An Evidence Qualification Receipt can implement the evidence-
   qualification layer described here.  A PASS receipt remains an
   authorization input only; local policy retains authority over action.

7.  Security Considerations

   Semantic collapse can enable authority laundering, replay of stale
   evidence, profile substitution, confused-deputy execution, and false
   completion records.  Implementations should bind evidence states to
   exact propositions, profiles, contexts, and actions when consequence
   warrants it.

8.  Privacy Considerations

   Evidence graphs can expose sensitive information.  Systems should
   minimize plaintext evidence in authorization paths and prefer scoped
   digests or privacy-preserving references when sufficient.

9.  IANA Considerations

   This document has no IANA actions.

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