Agent Escrow Protocol

Human approval queues for costly, risky, or irreversible agent actions.

Version: 1.0.0 | License: MIT | Status: production-oriented v1 foundation

Problem

Agents need autonomy, but high-impact actions still require explainable intent, bounded authority, and auditable approval.

What this project solves

An approval packet validator that checks action intent, risk class, budget, rollback plan, approver identity, and execution window.

Agent Escrow Protocol ships as a small, dependency-free CLI and library. It validates a domain-specific JSON packet, emits actionable findings, and gives contributors a concrete surface for adding adapters, richer checks, schemas, and integrations.

Who it is for

Agent app developers, enterprise automation teams, governance engineers.

Quick start

npm test
npm start -- sample

Analyze your own packet:

agent-escrow-protocol ./packet.json

Or pipe JSON:

cat packet.json | node src/cli.js

Example packet

{
  "action": {
    "kind": "deploy",
    "system": "production-api",
    "reversible": true
  },
  "risk": {
    "class": "high",
    "budgetUsd": 0
  },
  "approval": {
    "approver": "ops@example.org",
    "window": "2026-05-01T20:00Z"
  }
}

Library usage

const { analyze } = require("./src/index.js");

const report = analyze({
  "action": {
    "kind": "deploy",
    "system": "production-api",
    "reversible": true
  },
  "risk": {
    "class": "high",
    "budgetUsd": 0
  },
  "approval": {
    "approver": "ops@example.org",
    "window": "2026-05-01T20:00Z"
  }
});
console.log(report.summary);

v1 behavior

• Validates required fields for the domain packet.
• Scores readiness from 0 to 100.
• Reports missing or weak governance evidence.
• Suggests next actions and contributor extension points.
• Runs fully offline with no API keys and no network access.

Contribution map

Good first contributions:

• Add Slack approvals.
• Add signed approval receipts.
• Add rollback runners.
• Add policy packs.

Larger contributions:

• Add a JSON Schema and compatibility tests.
• Build import/export adapters for popular AI frameworks.
• Add real-world fixtures from public, non-sensitive examples.
• Improve scoring with transparent, documented heuristics.

Project principles

• Human agency over blind automation.
• Open standards over vendor lock-in.
• Auditable decisions over hidden magic.
• Privacy and safety as design constraints, not release notes.

GitHub Pages

The marketing site lives in site/index.html. Enable GitHub Pages from the site folder or use the included Pages workflow after publishing.

Security

This project does not process secrets by default. If you build adapters that touch production systems, keep least privilege, explicit consent, and auditable logs in the design.