When a primary agent assigns work to a subagent, implicit trust can expand authority beyond its intended limits. Delegation data makes the transfer explicit and lets authorization policies evaluate it. section 18.6 section 18.6.1
A delegation record identifies the delegator and delegate, permitted actions, accessible resources, and validity conditions such as expiration. It narrows existing authority rather than granting new permissions. section 18.6.1 section 18.6.5
delegation_id: "d-1027" delegator: Agent::"acme_assist" delegate: Agent::"research_agent" delegatedActions: [ Action::"documents.search", Action::"documents.read", Action::"documents.summarize" ] resourceScope: CustomerDocs::"CustCo" expires: "2026-03-31T18:00Z"
A concrete record delegates document search, reading, and summarization for one customer’s documents until a specified expiration time. section 18.6.1
Evaluate delegated authority as part of every tool authorization request:
- Require the requesting principal to match the delegate named in the record. section 18.6.3
- Permit only actions listed in delegatedActions and resources within resourceScope. section 18.6.3
- Reject requests outside the delegation’s validity window, regardless of other permits. section 18.6.3
forbid (
principal,
action,
resource
)
when {
context has delegation
}
unless {
principal == context.delegation.delegate
};
A forbid rule creates a guardrail: a delegation record cannot be used by a principal other than its named delegate. section 18.6.3
permit (
principal,
action,
resource
)
when {
action in context.delegation.delegatedActions
&& resource in context.delegation.resourceScope
&& context.currentTime < context.delegation.expires
};
A permit rule grants only the delegated actions and resources while the delegation remains unexpired. section 18.6.3
Delegation can also evolve during a task: an agent may begin with document-reading authority and receive email permission only after completing an intermediate step. Policies still evaluate the current delegation state. section 18.4.5 section 18.6.6
