Architecture

System Overview

HestiaOS uses a governance-kernel model where all agent actions must pass through explicit decision boundaries before producing external side effects.

User / Operator
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Intent / Proposal
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Policy Decision
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DecisionTrace
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Approval Gate
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ExecutionCommit
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Side Effect / External System

This flow is not optional — every path that produces a side effect must go through the governance boundary.

Governance Kernel Boundary

The Governance Kernel sits between intent and execution. It enforces the following invariants:

1. Every intent is registered before processing
2. Every intent is evaluated against explicit policy rules
3. Every evaluation produces a DecisionTrace — a structured, replayable artifact
4. No external side effect occurs without a valid ExecutionCommit
5. Every ExecutionCommit is linked to a DecisionTrace

Evidence Flow

Intent Registry
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Policy Evaluation
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DecisionTrace (immutable)
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Causal Bridge
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Public Evidence Artifact

Evidence is generated at each stage. Public evidence (this site) is a sanitized subset of the internal audit store.

Agent Proposal Flow

1. Proposal Created — Agent or operator submits an intent
2. Policy Check — Kernel evaluates against active policy rules
3. Decision Recorded — DecisionTrace is written (always, even for rejections)
4. Gate Check — If approved, requires ExecutionCommit for side effects
5. Execution Logged — Side effect is recorded with causal link to DecisionTrace

Execution Commit Boundary

The ExecutionCommit is the critical boundary in the system:

• Without ExecutionCommit → no external side effect is permitted
• With valid ExecutionCommit → side effect proceeds under governance
• Read-only operations may be approved without ExecutionCommit

This means even a fully approved intent cannot produce side effects without explicitly crossing this boundary — and that crossing is always recorded.

Public vs Private Components

Public Layer

Private Layer

The public layer is deliberately narrow. What is shown here represents the contracted boundary — what HestiaOS commits to producing as evidence, not what it uses internally to produce it.