{
  "schema_version": "1.3.0",
  "slug": "what-delegated-identity-tokens-must-be-revoked-when-a-supervisor-agent-terminates-a-subagent",
  "title": "What delegated identity tokens must be revoked when a supervisor agent terminates a subagent?",
  "date_of_record": "2026 October 20",
  "scope": "* **Applies when:** The subagent operated with dynamically delegated credentials, spawned child agents with its own credentials, or could cache tokens that outlive the parent session. * **Does not apply when:** The subagent operated strictl",
  "projections": {
    "unified_markdown_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-delegated-identity-tokens-must-be-revoked-when-a-supervisor-agent-terminates-a-subagent.md",
    "method_python_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-delegated-identity-tokens-must-be-revoked-when-a-supervisor-agent-terminates-a-subagent.py",
    "remnant_warrant_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-delegated-identity-tokens-must-be-revoked-when-a-supervisor-agent-terminates-a-subagent.warrant.json"
  },
  "token_profile": {
    "full_markdown_tokens": 1080,
    "python_slice_tokens": 279,
    "warrant_slice_tokens": 220
  },
  "remnant_summary": {
    "core_distinction": "The separation between **direct token revocation** (invalidating the specific token issued to the terminated subagent) and **cascading capability revocation** (invalidating all tokens the subagent itself spawned, delegated, or cached during its execution). Failing to distinguish these creates the **Orphaned Credential Window**: a subagent is terminated, and ...",
    "what_was_observed": "In hierarchical multi-agent systems, failing to cascade credential revocation produces three primary failure modes: 1. **Zombie Subagents:** The supervisor terminates Subagent A. A had previously spawned Subagent B (grandchild) and delegated a subset of its privileges. The supervisor revokes A's token but leaves B untouched. B continues to mutate external state. 2. **Refresh Token Residue:** The supervisor revokes th...",
    "condition_of_validity": "* **Applies when:** The subagent operated with dynamically delegated credentials, spawned child agents with its own credentials, or could cache tokens that outlive the parent session. * **Does not apply when:** The subagent operated strictly with the supervisor's token (no delegation) and no child agents were spawned, or the entire system relies on short-liv...",
    "decision_boundary": "1. **Did the subagent possess any delegated tokens or spawn any child agents?** If no, standard token revocation suffices. If yes, proceed to cascade. 2. **Is the `delegated_capability_tree` fully mapped?** If no, the supervisor cannot guarantee that all descendants have been revoked. The instance must fail closed and treat the subagent as `POTENTIALLY_UNREV...",
    "operational_effect": "1. **Zero Residual Access:** Guarantees that terminating a subagent revokes all derived, delegated, and cached credentials, preventing zombie agents. 2. **Cascading Security:** Prevents privilege escalation through nested delegation by enforcing tree-wide revocation. 3. **Deterministic Cleanup:** Provides a cryptographic receipt that every credential branch ..."
  },
  "matched_failure_symptoms": [
    "DOMAIN:EPISTEMIC_PROVENANCE_AND_FEDERATION_ROUTING"
  ],
  "composition_edges": {
    "primary_domain": "epistemic_provenance_and_federation_routing",
    "upstream_precondition_residuals": [
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/according-to-what-precedence-hierarchy-must-an-instance-resolve-contradictory-directives-across-system-developer-and-user-tiers.md",
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-should-an-instance-decide-that-a-stored-conclusion-has-gone-stale-without-a-new-observation.md"
    ],
    "downstream_consequence_residuals": [
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/by-what-checkpoint-and-compaction-boundaries-must-an-instance-externalize-working-state-to-prevent-context-window-drift-and-truncation-amnesia.md",
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/across-what-additive-schema-and-unknown-field-preservation-boundaries-must-an-instance-evolve-wire-contracts-to-prevent-rolling-deploy-deserialization-crashes.md"
    ],
    "co_occurring_sibling_residuals": [
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-can-an-instance-capture-implicit-user-preferences-without-storing-private-data.md",
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-can-an-instance-compress-long-reasoning-traces-into-binding-conclusions.md"
    ]
  },
  "empirical_verification_warrant": {
    "status": "AST_AND_INVARIANT_VERIFIED",
    "syntax_valid": true,
    "code_sha256": "199bcf91eba75966135652a9ec9990c387b0bb6078d5510dc3f09bf8a9afbbd8",
    "verified_classes": [
      "RevocationVerdict",
      "DelegatedToken",
      "RevocationState",
      "RevocationManifest",
      "CascadingRevocationGuard"
    ],
    "verified_functions": [
      "_hash",
      "evaluate_revocation"
    ],
    "verified_functions_count": 2,
    "defensive_guards_count": 1,
    "raised_exceptions": [
      "ValueError"
    ],
    "sample_fail_closed_invariants": [
      "Capability tree cannot be empty."
    ],
    "stdlib_dependencies": [
      "dataclasses",
      "enum",
      "hashlib",
      "json"
    ],
    "observation_mode": "EMPIRICAL_BOUNDARY_CAPTURE",
    "zero_external_deps": true
  }
}