Runtime enforcement architecture

Norven operates as a runtime enforcement layer between agent reasoning and enterprise systems. It intercepts execution requests and applies identity verification, policy evaluation, and provenance recording before any action reaches downstream infrastructure.

Agent reasoning layer
LLMs, planners, orchestration frameworks
Norven runtime enforcement layer
Identity, policy, execution control, provenance
Enterprise infrastructure
APIs, databases, internal services

What Norven is not

  • Not a workflow engine
  • Not an agent framework
  • Not prompt governance
  • Not a replacement for IAM or cloud security

Core Components

Workload Identity

Every agent runs with a cryptographically verifiable workload identity. Identity is scoped to purpose, propagated across multi-step workflows, and bound to downstream service calls. No anonymous execution. No static API keys.

Workload ID:agent-3xf-prod
Scope:customer:read
Attestation:spiffe://norven/...
Expires:3600s

Runtime Policy

Agent actions are evaluated against versioned policy at runtime. Violations halt execution immediately. Policies are hard constraints, not advisory rules, and take effect without redeploying agents or modifying prompts.

enforce(action.type == "write") {
ALLOWif scope.includes(resource)
HALTotherwise
}

Durable Execution

Agent workflows are long-running and failure-prone. Norven supports deterministic execution, retries, compensation, and state recovery. Reasoning failures do not produce unintended side effects.

identity.verify2ms
policy.enforce8ms
action.executerunning
provenance.record

Execution Provenance

Every decision is recorded with full context including identity, inputs, policy version, and outcome. Records are tamper-evident and replayable for incident response, audits, and compliance review.

Input Hash
7a4f9c2...
Policy Ver
v2.4.1
Identity
agent-3xf
Outcome
Executed
Cryptographically signed, tamper-evident

Integration Model

Norven integrates via SDK at the agent framework level. Agent code invokes Norven-wrapped actions instead of direct API calls. The runtime handles identity, policy, execution guarantees, and provenance transparently. No changes to downstream systems are required.