Causance

PLATFORM · AUTHORITY

Permission is a state. Progress is not.

In Causance, a task finishing, an agent succeeding, a review passing, a merge completing or a deployment occurring cannot retroactively create authority. Authority is evaluated as its own bounded decision state.

Implemented-mechanism view. The public record shape below is a disclosure-safe explanation of current source-bounded semantics. It does not expose private authority records or grant authority through the website.

BOUNDED AUTHORITY RECORDEligibility exists only inside the explicit envelope.
Principal
Who or what?Identity is explicit rather than inferred from a successful action.
Operation
May do what?The permitted action is bounded rather than implied by a general role.
Scope
Where?Repository, task, object, effect or other applicable scope remains explicit.
Conditions
Under what facts?Evidence, policy, verification and other required state can constrain eligibility.
Limit
For how long?Authority can be bounded by revision, stage, consumption or other exact conditions.
DECISION STATEBOUNDED AUTHORITY

A reasoned decision can establish that a specific operation is eligible inside its exact envelope. It does not become general permission and it does not transfer customer-owned credentials or operational authority to Causance.

SEPARATION

Completion evidence can approach the boundary. It cannot cross it.

This distinction matters most when autonomous actors move quickly. Capability, workflow progress and successful effects can all be observable without creating the permission that should have existed before the action.

PROGRESS / OBSERVATION
Agent completedTests passedReview approvedPR mergedDeployment finished
AUTHORITY STATE Principal + operation + scope + conditions + limit

Evaluated separately from progress. A later success cannot retroactively repair missing authority.

CONSUMPTION & REPLAY

Use changes the authority state.

Where an implemented authority contract is one-use or otherwise consumption-bound, the consumed state remains part of the record. Replaying the same authority is rejected rather than treated as a convenient retry.

AUTHORIZED OPERATIONCONSUMED

The bounded authority was used for the exact operation and its consumption is retained.

REPLAYREJECTED

A later retry cannot revive consumed authority. Later action requires fresh separately governed authority where the lifecycle requires it.

CUSTOMER AUTHORITY

Representation does not transfer power.

CAUSANCE CAN REPRESENT / EVALUATE
  • Explicit principal, operation and scope
  • Bounded decision state and applicable evidence
  • Verification and review requirements within implemented scope
  • Consumption, replay and retained-history semantics where implemented
NO TRANSFERdecision state does not acquire customer power
CUSTOMER SYSTEMS RETAIN
  • Credentials and enforcement authority
  • Deployment and product ownership
  • Emergency and break-glass accountability
  • Operational authority over downstream effects

FOLLOW THE CONTRACT

Authority depends on evidence—and failure must remain legible.

EvidenceSee what makes a bounded decision supportable.Failure & recoverySee what happens when the condition cannot proceed.EvaluationTest whether the distinction is material in your environment.