BASIS Gate v1 — Specification

An open specification for AI agent governance pipelines.

What this is

When an AI agent tries to take an action — call a tool, send an email, move money, read a file — something needs to decide whether that action is allowed. That decision is rarely one check; it is usually many checks in sequence. Identity. Authorization. Safety. Policy. Rate limits. Budget. Audit trail. Human approval in high-risk cases.

BASIS Gate is an open specification for how those checks compose.

It defines:

1. A common interface every check ("layer") implements, so checks written by different teams compose without surprises.
2. A three-mode execution model — block, inline, or deferred — so fast actions stay fast and high-risk actions get the scrutiny they require.
3. A preset system — Lite, Standard, Strict, Full — so operators can pick a posture without hand-configuring every layer.
4. A two-stage proof-chain protocol so every decision, synchronous or deferred, produces signed, tamper-evident evidence.
5. An industry-profile mechanism so regulated sectors (finance, healthcare, legal) can require specific layers to run synchronously.

Who this is for

• Agent developers who want their agents to work inside any governance-aware runtime.
• Governance runtime authors who want to implement the specification and be interoperable with any compliant layer or profile.
• Compliance and audit teams who want a defined, auditable mechanism to point regulators at.
• Anyone publishing a governance layer (jurisdiction-specific, industry-specific, policy-specific) who wants that layer to plug into compliant runtimes without custom integration.

What this is not

• A runtime. The runtime is a separate package. This is only the specification.
• A replacement for identity, authorization, or compliance frameworks. It is a composition mechanism on top of them.
• A legal compliance certification. Publishing a profile does not make it legally sufficient for any jurisdiction. Operators remain responsible for their compliance posture.

Status

• Version: v1.0-draft
• Read the full specification: SPEC.md
• TypeScript types: src/index.ts
• License: Apache-2.0

Reference

• Canonical trust parameters (risk levels, tier definitions, penalty formulas) are defined in the @vorionsys/basis package (packages/basis/src/canonical.ts). This specification refers to those values; it does not redefine them.
• Industry profiles ship in @vorionsys/basis-gate-industry.
• Reference runtime ships in @vorionsys/basis-gate-runtime (separate release).

Contributing

Comments, critique, and counter-proposals are welcome. Open an issue at the repository or write to the addresses listed in SPEC.md § 12.

Published by Vorion LLC. Apache License, Version 2.0.