Operationalizing Reconstructive Authority Runtime Construction, Dependency Resolution, and Execution Gating in Autonomous Agent Systems

Operationalizing Reconstructive Authority: Runtime Construction, Dependency Resolution, and Execution Gating in Autonomous Agent Systems Paper 6 (operational implementation) of the Agent Governance Series — 7 papers. --- WHAT THIS PAPER CONTRIBUTES The Reconstructive Authority Model (RAM, Paper 5) establishes that execution authority must be constructed from current system state rather than inherited from prior validation. Paper 5 defines the theoretical condition. This paper provides the operationalization: how that condition is enforced in a running system. Main contributions: 1. HALT state — A(t) = undefined. A third execution outcome beyond ADMIT and DENY. HALT is not a failure; it is a controlled suspension of execution when authority cannot be determined from available state. HALT is distinct from DENY: the system cannot establish whether authority holds, not that it does not hold. 2. Runtime Authority Construction Protocol — A 7-step dependency-resolving algorithm with strict prior influence constraints, dynamic variable promotion rules, and 7 decision codes: ADMIT_AUTHORITY_CONSTRUCTIBLE, HALT_AUTHORITY_UNDEFINED_REQUIRED_DEPENDENCY, HALT_AUTHORITY_UNDEFINED_UNCERTAINTY, HALT_MISSING_REQUIRED_SIGNAL, HALT_REATTESTATION_REQUIRED, CONTINUE_BOUNDED_NON_AUTHORITY_DRIFT, NARROW_PRIVILEGE_REEVALUATE. 3. Recovery Loop — A formal closed-loop process that transitions the system from HALT back to executable state: Signal Extraction → IML Trigger → State Augmentation (with Paper 0 reversion fallback when augmentation fails) → Reconstruction Attempt → Resolution. 4. Theorem 4 (Conditional Liveness) — If all authority-defining variables required by F are eventually observable, the system will eventually exit HALT and resume execution. 5. Safety + Liveness — No action proceeds without constructible authority (safety). Execution resumes when observability is restored (liveness). Together, Papers 5 and 6 deliver both properties. --- THE CORE MODEL Authority is defined as A(t) = F(S_r(t)). Since S_r(t) is not fully observable, the system operates on O(t) and must determine whether authority is constructible from available state. Dependencies are resolved dynamically at runtime — they are not statically defined: D(t) = Resolve(O(t)) If any authority-defining variable is unobservable, uncertain, or missing, the execution gate yields HALT. A policy prior P_0(C) may propose initial candidate variables but cannot authorize execution independently — authority emerges only from runtime construction. --- INTEGRATION WITH THE GOVERNANCE STACK RAM does not replace ACP. It operates as the authorization criterion within ACP's execution gate (stage 3 of the 6-stage enforcement flow). IML (Paper 2) triggers recomputation on drift signals; RAM enforces the execution consequence. The Recovery Loop closes the loop: IML → RAM → ACP → IML. Governance stack (top to bottom):- Paper 3 — Allocation: who is permitted to reach execution?- Paper 2 — Behavioral (IML): drift detection, non-identifiability monitoring- Paper 1 — Enforcement (ACP v1.30): capabilities, constraints, 6-stage execution pipeline- Paper 0 — Atomic Execution: decision-action binding, TOCTOU elimination- Paper 4 — Compositional Validation: P0-P3 are irreducible; governance structure is complete- Papers 5-6 — Reconstructive Authority (RAM): execute iff A(t) is constructible --- AGENT GOVERNANCE SERIES P0 — Atomic Decision Boundaries Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19670649 | arXiv: 2604.17511 P1 — Agent Control Protocol (ACP v1.30) Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19672575 | arXiv: 2603.18829 P2 — From Admission to Invariants (IML) Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19672589 | arXiv: 2604.17517 P3 — Fair Atomic Governance Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19672597 | arXiv: TBD P4 — Irreducible Multi-Scale Governance Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19672608 | arXiv: TBD P5 — Reconstructive Authority Model (RAM) Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19669430 | arXiv: TBD P6 — Operationalizing Reconstructive Authority (this paper) Zenodo: this record | arXiv: TBD --- Author: Marcelo Fernandez / TraslaIAWebsite: https://agentcontrolprotocol.xyzGitHub: https://github.com/chelof100/operationalizing-ramLicense: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)