Skip to main content

Governance Profile Specification

Identifierurn:adl:profile:governance:1.0
StatusDraft
ADL Compatibility0.1.x
Schemaschema.json
DependenciesNone

1. Introduction

The Governance Profile extends ADL for regulated enterprise environments. It adds members for compliance frameworks, autonomy classification, AI governance, operational governance, and lifecycle process controls. Agent lifecycle status is defined by the core ADL lifecycle member (Section 5.6); this profile adds governance-specific process controls around lifecycle transitions.

When this profile is declared in an ADL document's profiles array, the document MUST satisfy all requirements defined in this specification.

1.1 Passport Model

This profile applies ADL's passport model (Section 1.3 of the core specification) to governance. The ADL document carries the minimum governance declarations needed for trust decisions; operational governance detail — escalation contacts, full accountability chains, audit schedules, evaluation reports — is maintained in a separate governance record stored in the agent registry and linked from the passport via governance_record_ref.

See the companion Governance Record Specification for the governance record schema.

1.2 Conformance Tiers

The Governance Profile defines three conformance tiers based on agent autonomy. Tiers make governance fields conditionally required — fields that are OPTIONAL at Tier 1 become REQUIRED at higher tiers. This mechanism transforms optional governance declarations into enforceable constraints without making them universally required for all governed agents.

TierNameDescription
1SupervisedHuman directs; agent assists. Agent operates under direct human control with limited independent action.
2Conditional AutonomyAgent acts within defined boundaries; human oversight on exceptions. Agent may execute independently but must pause for human review under declared trigger conditions.
3Full AutonomyAgent operates independently; human oversight is periodic or post-hoc. Agent makes and executes decisions with minimal real-time human intervention.

Tier definitions are framework-agnostic. The compliance mapping table (Section 3) provides alignment to specific framework risk classifications.


2. Additional Members

2.1 compliance_framework

REQUIRED when using this profile.

An object containing compliance and regulatory framework information.

MemberTypeRequiredDescription
primary_frameworkstringREQUIREDPrimary compliance framework identifier
control_mappingsarrayOPTIONALControl implementation details
audit_datesobjectOPTIONALLast and next audit dates

primary_framework

MUST be one of:

  • NIST_800_53 — NIST Special Publication 800-53
  • SOC2_TYPE_II — SOC 2 Type II
  • ISO_27001 — ISO/IEC 27001 Information Security
  • ISO_42001 — ISO/IEC 42001 AI Management System
  • GDPR — General Data Protection Regulation
  • HIPAA — Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
  • PCI_DSS — Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
  • EU_AI_ACT — EU Artificial Intelligence Act
  • IMDA_AGENTIC — IMDA Model AI Governance Framework for Agentic AI
  • NIST_AI_RMF — NIST AI Risk Management Framework

control_mappings

When present, MUST be an array of control mapping objects:

MemberTypeRequiredDescription
frameworkstringREQUIREDFramework identifier
control_idstringREQUIREDControl identifier (e.g., "CC6.1")
statusstringREQUIREDImplementation status

status MUST be one of: implemented, partial, planned, not_applicable.

note

For enterprise deployments with a governance registry, MAY be maintained in the governance record rather than the passport. When present in both locations, the governance record is the authoritative source.

audit_dates

When present, MUST be an object containing:

MemberTypeRequiredDescription
last_auditstringOPTIONALISO 8601 timestamp of last audit
next_auditstringOPTIONALISO 8601 timestamp of next scheduled audit

2.2 autonomy

REQUIRED when using this profile.

Declares the agent's autonomy tier, which determines the conformance requirements for the remainder of this profile. The autonomy classification is the primary governance signal for counterparties making trust decisions about this agent.

MemberTypeRequiredDescription
tiernumberREQUIREDConformance tier: 1, 2, or 3
basisstringREQUIREDRationale for the tier classification
classified_bystringREQUIREDEntity that performed the classification
classified_atstringREQUIREDISO 8601 timestamp of classification

tier MUST be one of 1, 2, or 3. See Section 1.2 for tier definitions.

basis SHOULD describe the factors that informed the classification, including the agent's scope of autonomous action, the reversibility of its decisions, and the sensitivity of data it processes.

classified_by SHOULD identify a person, team, or governance body with authority to classify agents.

Example:

{
"autonomy": {
"tier": 2,
"basis": "Agent executes document reviews independently but requires human approval for compliance determinations that affect regulatory filings.",
"classified_by": "AI Ethics Committee",
"classified_at": "2026-01-15T00:00:00Z"
}
}

2.3 risk_classification

OPTIONAL. AI risk level and assessment for this agent.

MemberTypeRequiredDescription
levelstringOPTIONALRisk level: low, medium, high, critical
autonomy_levelstringOPTIONALFine-grained autonomy scale for framework alignment
assessed_bystringOPTIONALEntity that performed the assessment
assessed_atstringOPTIONALISO 8601 timestamp
rationalestringOPTIONALExplanation of risk classification

autonomy_level

When present, MUST be one of:

ValueDescription
L0No autonomy — deterministic tool, no AI decision-making
L1Minimal autonomy — AI assists within tightly scoped parameters
L2Bounded autonomy — AI selects actions from a constrained set with human approval
L3Conditional autonomy — AI acts independently within defined boundaries, human override available
L4High autonomy — AI operates independently with periodic human review
L5Full autonomy — AI operates without ongoing human oversight

autonomy_level provides a finer-grained scale than autonomy.tier for organizations that require detailed risk classification. When both are present, they SHOULD be consistent: L0–L1 maps to Tier 1, L2–L3 maps to Tier 2, L4–L5 maps to Tier 3.


2.4 human_oversight

OPTIONAL. Human oversight configuration for this agent. At Tier 2+, this member MUST be present (GOV-12).

MemberTypeRequiredDescription
levelstringOPTIONALOversight level: none, on_exception, periodic, continuous
rolestringOPTIONALRole responsible for oversight
triggersarrayOPTIONALConditions that pause agent execution for human review
response_time_minutesnumberOPTIONALMaximum minutes before auto-halt when no reviewer responds
intervention_modelstringOPTIONALHow human intervention works

triggers

When present, MUST be a non-empty array of strings. Each string describes a condition that MUST cause the agent to suspend execution and request human review. Trigger descriptions are declarative — the runtime is responsible for detecting the conditions and suspending execution.

At Tier 2+, triggers MUST be present (GOV-13).

Example trigger values: "Financial commitment exceeding $10,000", "Access to restricted data category", "Decision affecting external-facing communications".

response_time_minutes

When present, MUST be a positive integer. Specifies the maximum number of minutes the agent will wait for a human reviewer to respond after a trigger condition is met. If no response is received within this period, the agent MUST halt execution rather than proceed without oversight.

At Tier 2+, response_time_minutes MUST be present (GOV-13).

intervention_model

When present, MUST be one of:

ValueDescription
approve_rejectHuman approves or rejects the agent's proposed action
plan_editingHuman may modify the agent's proposed plan before execution
monitor_onlyHuman observes but does not block execution
note

Operational oversight detail — escalation contacts and audit cadence — is maintained in the governance record. See the Governance Record Specification.


2.5 incident_response

OPTIONAL. Declares whether an incident escalation policy is documented for this agent. At Tier 2+, this member MUST be present with policy_documented: true (GOV-14).

MemberTypeRequiredDescription
policy_documentedboolREQUIREDWhether an incident escalation policy is documented in the governance record
last_testedstringOPTIONALISO 8601 timestamp of when the escalation path was last verified operational

policy_documented MUST be true at Tier 2+ (GOV-14). Implementations SHOULD warn when last_tested is absent or more than 90 days old.

The full incident escalation policy — contacts, severity routing, response time SLAs, external reporting obligations — is maintained in the governance record. See the Governance Record Specification.

Example:

{
"incident_response": {
"policy_documented": true,
"last_tested": "2026-02-01T00:00:00Z"
}
}

2.6 evaluation_attestation

OPTIONAL. Records the result of pre-deployment behavioral evaluation. At Tier 3, this member MUST be present with result: passed (GOV-16).

This member is distinct from security.attestation (Section 10.3 of the core ADL specification), which provides cryptographic provenance for the document. evaluation_attestation records whether the agent's behavior was evaluated and what the outcome was.

MemberTypeRequiredDescription
resultstringREQUIREDEvaluation outcome
evaluatorstringREQUIREDEntity that performed the evaluation
evaluation_datestringREQUIREDISO 8601 timestamp of evaluation completion
methodologystringOPTIONALEvaluation methodology class
expires_atstringOPTIONALISO 8601 timestamp when the attestation expires

result

MUST be one of:

ValueDescription
passedAgent met all evaluation criteria
conditionalAgent passed with conditions — restrictions apply
failedAgent did not meet evaluation criteria

At Tier 3, result MUST be passed (GOV-16). Implementations SHOULD warn when result is conditional at any tier.

methodology

When present, MUST be one of: automated_benchmark, red_team, third_party_audit, sandbox, internal_review.

expires_at

When present, implementations SHOULD warn when expires_at is in the past or within 30 days. Runtimes SHOULD treat an expired evaluation attestation as requiring re-evaluation before provisioning.

note

Detailed evaluation records — dimensions covered, conditions, full report URI, continuous testing configuration — are maintained in the governance record. See the Governance Record Specification.

Example:

{
"evaluation_attestation": {
"result": "passed",
"evaluator": "AI Safety Review Board",
"evaluation_date": "2026-02-15T00:00:00Z",
"methodology": "red_team",
"expires_at": "2026-08-15T00:00:00Z"
}
}

2.7 disclosure

OPTIONAL. User-facing transparency declarations for this agent. At Tier 2+, this member MUST be present with required: true (GOV-15).

Disclosure content is presented to users at interaction time. It informs anyone who interacts with the agent — including end users and peer agents — of the agent's AI identity, known limitations, prohibited uses, and reporting contact.

MemberTypeRequiredDescription
requiredboolREQUIREDWhether the runtime MUST present disclosure to users before interaction
known_limitationsarrayOPTIONALKnown limitations of the agent
prohibited_usesarrayOPTIONALUses for which the agent is not intended
user_responsibilitiesarrayOPTIONALResponsibilities the user accepts when using the agent
reporting_contactstringOPTIONALURI for users to report issues or exercise data subject rights
disclosure_versionstringOPTIONALVersion identifier for tracking disclosure content changes

required MUST be true at Tier 2+ (GOV-15). When required is true, runtimes MUST present the disclosure content to users before the first interaction in a session.

known_limitations, prohibited_uses, and user_responsibilities, when present, MUST each be a non-empty array of strings.

reporting_contact, when present, MUST be a valid URI.

Example:

{
"disclosure": {
"required": true,
"known_limitations": [
"May produce inaccurate regulatory citations",
"Not trained on jurisdiction-specific case law after 2025"
],
"prohibited_uses": [
"Final regulatory determination without human review",
"Legal advice to external parties"
],
"reporting_contact": "mailto:ai-issues@example.com",
"disclosure_version": "1.2"
}
}

2.8 safety_reviews

OPTIONAL. Safety review schedule and status for this agent.

MemberTypeRequiredDescription
requiredboolOPTIONALWhether safety review is required
frequencystringOPTIONALReview frequency (e.g., "quarterly")
last_reviewstringOPTIONALISO 8601 timestamp
next_reviewstringOPTIONALISO 8601 timestamp
review_boardstringOPTIONALReviewing entity

2.9 governance

OPTIONAL. An object containing operational governance information.

MemberTypeRequiredDescription
ownershipobjectOPTIONALOwner and delegate information
approval_workflowobjectOPTIONALApproval requirements
audit_trailobjectOPTIONALAudit logging configuration
lifecycle_governanceobjectOPTIONALGovernance-specific lifecycle process controls
note

Agent lifecycle status (, , , ) is defined by the core ADL member (Section 5.6). The governance profile adds process controls around lifecycle transitions via , not a separate status field.

lifecycle_governance

When present, MAY contain:

MemberTypeDescription
transition_policyobjectRules governing lifecycle state transitions
last_transitionobjectRecord of the most recent lifecycle state change
transition_policy

When present, MAY contain:

MemberTypeDescription
requires_approvalboolWhether lifecycle transitions require approval
approversarrayList of required approvers for transitions
approval_typestringType: any, all, quorum
notice_period_daysnumberRequired notice period before deprecation/retirement
allowed_transitionsarrayPermitted state transitions (e.g., ["draft->active", "active->deprecated"])
last_transition

When present, MAY contain:

MemberTypeDescription
from_statusstringPrevious lifecycle status
to_statusstringNew lifecycle status
approved_bystringEntity that approved the transition
approved_atstringISO 8601 timestamp of approval
reasonstringReason for the transition

ownership

When present, MAY contain:

MemberTypeDescription
ownerstringPrimary owner (team or individual)
delegatestringDelegate owner
contactstringContact email
user_escalation_contactstringURI for end users or external parties to report issues
decision_boundariesarrayDeclarations of which decision types require human approval
user_escalation_contact

When present, MUST be a valid URI. This is distinct from ownership.contact — it is the external-facing contact for end users and counterparties, not the internal governance owner. It MAY be a mailto: URI, a web form URL, or another URI scheme appropriate to the organization.

decision_boundaries

When present, MUST be a non-empty array of objects. Each entry declares a category of decision and the authorization model for that category.

MemberTypeRequiredDescription
decision_typestringREQUIREDCategory of decision (e.g., "financial_commitment", "data_deletion", "external_communication")
ownerstringREQUIREDAuthorization model for this decision type
rationalestringOPTIONALExplanation of why this boundary exists

owner MUST be one of:

ValueDescription
human_onlyAgent MUST NOT execute this decision type; human required
agentAgent may execute this decision type independently
human_in_loopAgent may propose; human must approve before execution
note

The full accountability chain and external dependencies list are maintained in the governance record. See the Governance Record Specification.

approval_workflow

When present, MAY contain:

MemberTypeDescription
requiredboolWhether approval is required for changes
approversarrayList of required approvers
approval_typestringType: any, all, quorum

audit_trail

When present, MAY contain:

MemberTypeDescription
enabledboolWhether audit logging is enabled
retention_daysnumberLog retention period in days
destinationstringAudit log destination URI

2.10 governance_record_ref

OPTIONAL. A URI that resolves to the governance record for this agent in the authoritative registry.

Value MUST be a valid URI when present. The URI SHOULD be stable — it MUST NOT change when the governance record content is updated. The URI MAY require authentication to access.

At Tier 3, governance_record_ref SHOULD be present (GOV-17).

The governance record contains operational governance detail that does not travel with the agent passport: full incident escalation contacts, oversight escalation contacts and audit cadence, detailed evaluation reports, full accountability chains, and compliance control mappings. See the Governance Record Specification for the record schema.

Example:

{
"governance_record_ref": "https://gorvnd.example.com/agents/compliance-review/governance-record"
}

3. Compliance Mapping

The Governance Profile provides mappings between ADL/profile sections and common compliance framework controls.

ADL / Profile SectionFramework Controls
lifecycleNIST CM-3, SA-10; ISO 42001 8.4; EU AI Act Art. 9, 72
permissions.networkNIST AC-4, SC-7; SOC2 CC6.6
permissions.filesystemNIST AC-3, AC-6; SOC2 CC6.1
security.authenticationNIST IA-2, IA-5; SOC2 CC6.1
security.encryptionNIST SC-8, SC-13; SOC2 CC6.1
autonomyIMDA §2.1 (IMDA-001, IMDA-016); CLTC Map 5.1 (CLTC-070, CLTC-071); CLTC Govern 1.4 (CLTC-007, CLTC-010)
risk_classificationISO 42001 6.1, 9.1; EU AI Act Art. 9; CLTC Map 5.1 (CLTC-070); IMDA §2.1.1 (IMDA-016)
human_oversightISO 42001 6.1, 9.1; EU AI Act Art. 9; IMDA §2.2.2 (IMDA-040–IMDA-046, IMDA-069–IMDA-070); CLTC Govern 2.1 (CLTC-025, CLTC-026); CLTC Map 3.5 (CLTC-065, CLTC-066); CLTC Manage 1.3 (CLTC-104, CLTC-106)
incident_responseIMDA §2.3.3 (IMDA-065, IMDA-066, IMDA-071); CLTC Govern 4.2 (CLTC-032, CLTC-033); CLTC Manage 2.3 (CLTC-117, CLTC-125)
evaluation_attestationIMDA §2.3.2 (IMDA-056–IMDA-062, IMDA-072); CLTC Measure 1.1 (CLTC-077, CLTC-078, CLTC-084)
disclosureIMDA §2.4.2 (IMDA-078; IMDA-073, IMDA-077); CLTC Govern 4.2 (CLTC-034, CLTC-035)
governance.ownershipIMDA §2.2.1 (IMDA-028, IMDA-036, IMDA-081); CLTC Govern 2.1 (CLTC-023, CLTC-024)
governance.audit_trailNIST AU-2, AU-6; SOC2 CC7.2
governance.lifecycle_governanceNIST CM-3, CM-4; SOC2 CC8.1

4. Example

A Tier 2 agent with conformance tier, oversight triggers, disclosure, and incident response:

Complete Example

This example demonstrates a complete agent definition using this profile.

compliance-review-agent.adl.json
{
"adl_spec": "0.1.0",
"name": "Compliance Review Agent",
"description": "Reviews documents for regulatory compliance. Flags potential violations and recommends remediation actions.",
"version": "2.0.0",
"data_classification": {
"sensitivity": "confidential",
"categories": ["regulatory"]
},
"profiles": ["urn:adl:profile:governance:1.0"],
"lifecycle": {
"status": "active",
"effective_date": "2026-01-15T00:00:00Z"
},
"autonomy": {
"tier": 2,
"basis": "Agent reviews documents independently but requires human approval for compliance determinations affecting regulatory filings.",
"classified_by": "AI Ethics Committee",
"classified_at": "2026-01-10T00:00:00Z"
},
"compliance_framework": {
"primary_framework": "SOC2_TYPE_II",
"audit_dates": {
"last_audit": "2025-11-15T00:00:00Z",
"next_audit": "2026-11-15T00:00:00Z"
}
},
"risk_classification": {
"level": "medium",
"autonomy_level": "L3",
"assessed_by": "AI Ethics Committee",
"assessed_at": "2026-01-10T00:00:00Z"
},
"human_oversight": {
"level": "on_exception",
"role": "Compliance Officer",
"triggers": [
"Compliance determination affecting regulatory filing",
"Document classified as restricted sensitivity",
"Remediation recommendation with estimated cost exceeding $50,000"
],
"response_time_minutes": 60,
"intervention_model": "approve_reject"
},
"incident_response": {
"policy_documented": true,
"last_tested": "2026-02-01T00:00:00Z"
},
"disclosure": {
"required": true,
"known_limitations": [
"May produce inaccurate regulatory citations for jurisdictions outside the US and EU",
"Not trained on regulatory guidance published after 2025-12-01"
],
"prohibited_uses": [
"Final regulatory determination without human review",
"Legal advice to external parties"
],
"reporting_contact": "mailto:ai-issues@example.com"
},
"governance": {
"ownership": {
"owner": "Compliance Team",
"contact": "compliance@example.com",
"user_escalation_contact": "mailto:ai-support@example.com",
"decision_boundaries": [
{
"decision_type": "regulatory_filing",
"owner": "human_only",
"rationale": "Regulatory filings require human sign-off per SOC2 CC6.1"
},
{
"decision_type": "document_review",
"owner": "agent",
"rationale": "Routine document reviews are within the agent's authorized scope"
},
{
"decision_type": "remediation_recommendation",
"owner": "human_in_loop",
"rationale": "Remediation actions may have budgetary implications"
}
]
},
"lifecycle_governance": {
"transition_policy": {
"requires_approval": true,
"approvers": ["security-team", "compliance-lead"],
"approval_type": "all"
}
},
"audit_trail": {
"enabled": true,
"retention_days": 730
}
},
"governance_record_ref": "https://gorvnd.example.com/agents/compliance-review/governance-record"
}

5. Validation Rules

Validation Required

Implementations validating against this profile MUST enforce the following rules. Non-conforming documents should be rejected.

RuleDescription
GOV-01compliance_framework MUST be present
GOV-02compliance_framework.primary_framework MUST be a valid framework identifier
GOV-03control_mappings[*].status MUST be a valid status value
GOV-04All timestamps MUST be valid ISO 8601
GOV-05risk_classification.level MUST be valid if present
GOV-06lifecycle MUST be present (core member, Section 5.6)
GOV-07human_oversight.level MUST be valid if present
GOV-08lifecycle_governance.last_transition.from_status and to_status MUST be valid lifecycle status values if present
GOV-09lifecycle_governance.transition_policy.approval_type MUST be one of any, all, quorum if present
GOV-10autonomy MUST be present
GOV-11autonomy.tier MUST be 1, 2, or 3
GOV-12At Tier 2+: human_oversight MUST be present
GOV-13At Tier 2+: human_oversight.triggers and human_oversight.response_time_minutes MUST be present
GOV-14At Tier 2+: incident_response MUST be present with policy_documented: true
GOV-15At Tier 2+: disclosure MUST be present with required: true
GOV-16At Tier 3: evaluation_attestation MUST be present with result: passed
GOV-17At Tier 3: governance_record_ref SHOULD be present
GOV-18autonomy.classified_at MUST be valid ISO 8601
GOV-19risk_classification.autonomy_level MUST be a valid L0–L5 value if present
GOV-20human_oversight.intervention_model MUST be a valid enum value if present
GOV-21evaluation_attestation.result MUST be a valid enum value if present
GOV-22evaluation_attestation.methodology MUST be a valid enum value if present
GOV-23governance.ownership.decision_boundaries[*].owner MUST be a valid enum value if present
GOV-24governance_record_ref MUST be a valid URI if present

5.1 Tier-Conditional Validation

Tier-conditional rules (GOV-12 through GOV-17) are evaluated using the value of autonomy.tier. Validators MUST resolve autonomy.tier before evaluating tier-conditional rules. If autonomy is absent, validation MUST fail at GOV-10 before reaching tier-conditional checks.

The following table summarizes field requirements by tier:

FieldTier 1Tier 2Tier 3
compliance_frameworkMUSTMUSTMUST
autonomyMUSTMUSTMUST
lifecycleMUSTMUSTMUST
human_oversightMAYMUSTMUST
human_oversight.triggersMAYMUSTMUST
human_oversight.response_time_minutesMAYMUSTMUST
incident_response (with policy_documented: true)MAYMUSTMUST
disclosure (with required: true)MAYMUSTMUST
evaluation_attestation (with result: passed)MAYMAYMUST
governance_record_refMAYMAYSHOULD

5.2 Schema Validation

The governance profile provides a JSON Schema (schema.json) that extends the base ADL schema via allOf composition per Section 13.1 of the core specification. The profile schema:

  1. References the base ADL schema via allOf with $ref.
  2. Declares all governance-specific members in its own properties.
  3. Enforces tier-conditional requirements using if/then on autonomy.tier.
  4. Adds unevaluatedProperties: false to reject members not defined by either the base schema or this profile.

Validators SHOULD use this schema for structural validation of documents declaring the governance profile. Semantic validation rules (GOV-01 through GOV-24) that cannot be expressed in JSON Schema MUST be enforced programmatically.

5.3 Profile Dependencies

This profile has no dependencies. Profiles that depend on the governance profile (e.g., a healthcare profile) compose by referencing this profile's schema in their own allOf and MAY tighten governance constraints (e.g., require human_oversight at Tier 1). See Section 13.3 of the core specification for dependency rules.


6. References

The following works informed the design of this profile's conformance tiers, compliance mappings, and governance field requirements: