Protocol-Mediated Execution Governance for LLM Agent Systems

A governance model for LLM agent systems in which control is enforced at the protocol layer rather than inside the model. Agents reach tools through a Model Context Protocol surface; the protocol mediates what each agent may execute, under whose authority, and with what record.

Mechanisms

• RFC 8693 token exchange and per-agent key scoping, so each agent acts under a bounded identity.
• An immutable, per-stage audit trail: every decision an agent makes is reconstructable — what was tried, what was rejected, why, and who approved it.
• Compliance checked inline at the point of decision (FAVES), not as a terminal gate.

The argument is that observability and execution governance must be built into the engine, not bolted on afterward — and that a retrofitted audit trail is not equivalent to a native one.