Human–Machine Relations Lab
DEContact

From intent to action

Identity, mandate, gateway and evidence make up one chain of authority.

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Who and whose

The identity associates an agent with the organisation and responsible person behind it. Identity alone does not authorise an action.

What and where

The signed mandate describes the actions, limits, systems and counterparties in scope. The gateway compares the concrete request with that mandate. Requests outside the granted scope are denied or require a separate authorised approval.

Decision and result

The intended receipt records the request, decision, mandate and result. Pending approval does not execute the action. The completeness of the chain depends on coverage of the actual execution route.

Identity. Binding. Authority.

Identity, authority and tested evidence — four connected objects.

Design examples with fictional data. These are not real passports, ratings or granted mandates.

Organisation passport

Who stands behind the agent? Company identity, linked agents and evidence at a glance.

w⁴iyaOrganisation
· DEMO

W<<WHO<WHOSE<WHAT<WHERE<<

Company passport

Musterwerk Industrie GmbH

Cologne · DE · Demo organisation

4.82REGISTRY RATING / 5

Derived from completed transactions. No workflow attestation. Illustrative value.

Validity
2026-06-14 → 2027-06-14
EXAMPLE
Bound agent
procurement-agent · rev 4
REFERENCE
Mandate
Separate object
1 LINKED
Evidence
Attestations disclosed
2 DISCLOSED

Agent passport

Which agent is acting? Identity, key binding and responsible organisation at a glance.

w⁴iyaAgent passport
· DEMO

W<<WHO<WHOSE<WHAT<WHERE<<

Agent passport

procurement-agent

demo:agent:procurement · Runtime MCP

rev 4KEY BINDING · P-256

Organisation binding: Musterwerk Industrie GmbH. authority_granted: false

Responsible owner
Procurement Operations
NAMED
Organisation
Musterwerk Industrie GmbH
REFERENCE
Mandate
Procurement · separate object
SEPARATE
Connection
MCP Gateway
DEMO

Mandate

What may the agent do? Permitted actions, counterparties, limits and validity.

w⁴iyaGranted authority
· DEMO

W<<WHO<WHOSE<WHAT<WHERE<<

Granted authority

C-parts up to €15,000

md_proc · v3 · 2026-06-20 → 2027-05-31

€15,000LIMIT PER ORDER

This agent may order known items from approved suppliers.

Counterparties
42 approved suppliers
LIST
Actions
create_order · cancel_order
2 PERMITTED
Monthly budget
€90,000
HARD LIMIT
Revocation
By principal
IMMEDIATE

Attestation

What was tested? Results and open findings for a specific workflow.

w⁴iyaWorkflow-Attestation
· DEMO

W<<WHO<WHOSE<WHAT<WHERE<<

Workflow-Attestation

Reordering C-parts

Musterwerk Industrie GmbH · procurement-agent rev 4

85 %FAILURES REMOVED

Demo: 41 of 96 cases failed without enforcement; 6 of 96 with enforcement.

Maximum single loss
€15,000
DEMO
Stations
7 / 7
COMPLETED
Open findings
2
STATIONS 4 AND 5
Test configuration
run_5f81c0
BOUND TO WORKFLOW