Reference Architecture

The AI Identity Control Plane

A map of how identity becomes the substrate underneath agents, tools, APIs, data access, and external actions—with audit and provenance as first-class outputs.

AI identity control plane architecture map
How to Read This

Top layer shows execution: prompts, agents, tools, and actions.
Middle layer shows the identity control plane: identities, token issuance, context, policy, and scoped enforcement.
Bottom layer shows trust outputs: audit, provenance, receipts, and replay.

The Point

As AI maturity rises, identity maturity must rise with it. Without this substrate, teams get agent sprawl, token sprawl, and zero auditability. With it, systems become bounded, auditable, and defensible.

Control Plane Components

Identity Binding

First-class identities for agents. Service accounts with scoped permissions. Principal-based authentication.

Token Governance

Short-lived, scoped tokens minted per action. No long-lived credentials. Audit trail per issuance.

Policy Enforcement

Runtime policy evaluation. Context-aware decisions. Enforcement at execution time, not just design time.

Audit Events

Structured event emission for every action. Correlation IDs. Full chain reconstruction.

Provenance Stamps

Cryptographic fingerprints. Input/output hashing. Lineage records per action.

Forensic Replay

Ability to reconstruct any action chain. Defensible proof. Evidence-grade audit.

The map visualization above is a placeholder. Replace with your generated architecture diagram.