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Agent Trust Cloud
BlueprintPage 28
28AI SECURITY

Agent-to-Agent Delegation

Delegation must narrow authority, never silently broaden it.

Priority
P1
Phase
Phase 2
Primary owner
IAM / Platform
Status
Blueprint

Objective

Multi-agent systems introduce delegated authority chains. Agent B should not gain more authority merely because Agent A asked it to perform a task. The platform needs explicit delegation semantics, depth limits and evidence.

What to build

  • Represent parent/child agent task relationships and delegated scopes.
  • Carry original human/service principal through the chain.
  • Limit delegation depth, duration, tools and data scopes.
  • Prevent privilege amplification when a child agent has broader standing permissions.
  • Allow policies based on delegation path and trust level.

Implementation decisions

  • Use signed delegation tokens with audience and scope.
  • Compute effective authority as the intersection of delegator rights, delegate rights and policy constraints.
  • Record reason/task identifier with each delegation.
  • Expire delegation automatically when the parent task ends.

Definition of done

  • A child cannot perform an action the delegated task did not authorize.
  • Security can reconstruct the full chain behind a tool call.
  • Delegation loops and excessive depth are rejected.

Success metrics

  • Delegated actions/day
  • Privilege-amplification blocks
  • Average delegation depth
  • Orphaned delegated sessions

CORE RULE

Delegation must narrow authority, never silently broaden it.