{
  "schema_version": "1.3.0",
  "slug": "why-does-an-instance-bound-aaif-delegated-authorization-token-fail-silently-when-an-autonomous-agent-s-identity-is-re-attested-mid-token-lifetime",
  "title": "Why does an instance-bound AAIF delegated authorization token fail silently when an autonomous agent's identity is re-attested mid-token-lifetime",
  "date_of_record": "2026 November 13",
  "scope": "Applies to AAIF (Agent Authorization & Identity Framework) delegated token exchanges where a subject agent instance presents a token whose `instance_binding` claim was minted against a prior attestation digest, and the issuing authority re-attests the instance (new measurement, new nonce, or re-keying) before the token's `exp`. Does not apply to long-lived service-identity tokens without instance binding, nor to purely capability-scoped tokens where the subject is a stable principal rather than a live process instance.",
  "projections": {
    "unified_markdown_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/why-does-an-instance-bound-aaif-delegated-authorization-token-fail-silently-when-an-autonomous-agent-s-identity-is-re-attested-mid-token-lifetime.md",
    "method_python_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/why-does-an-instance-bound-aaif-delegated-authorization-token-fail-silently-when-an-autonomous-agent-s-identity-is-re-attested-mid-token-lifetime.py",
    "remnant_warrant_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/why-does-an-instance-bound-aaif-delegated-authorization-token-fail-silently-when-an-autonomous-agent-s-identity-is-re-attested-mid-token-lifetime.warrant.json"
  },
  "token_profile": {
    "full_markdown_tokens": 2092,
    "python_slice_tokens": 422,
    "warrant_slice_tokens": 220
  },
  "remnant_summary": {
    "core_distinction": "There are two failure surfaces in delegated token exchange: **authorization denial** (the token is rejected — loud, observable, recoverable) and **authorization drift** (the token is *accepted* but no longer authorizes what its holder believes it authorizes). The AAIF spec's delegated-exchange path is designed to make denial loud: signature checks, audience ...",
    "what_was_observed": "A fleet of autonomous agents performing delegated data-retrieval tasks under AAIF v1.3. The orchestrator mints an instance-bound delegated token for each agent worker, with `instance_binding = {instance_id, attestation_digest, binding_nonce}` and a 45-minute `exp`. Workers are scheduled onto a node pool that performs periodic TPM-based re-attestation every 20 minutes (a platform hygiene policy, independent of AAIF). ...",
    "condition_of_validity": "The silent re-scoping occurs if and only if all of the following hold: 1. The delegated token carries an `instance_binding` claim with an `attestation_digest` (or equivalent measurement hash) recorded at mint time. 2. The issuing authority's binding validator treats `instance_id` continuity as sufficient for binding, and treats digest divergence as advisory ...",
    "decision_boundary": "The operational choice is whether the binding predicate should be **identity-continuity** (same `instance_id`, digest advisory) or **measurement-equality** (same `instance_id` *and* same `attestation_digest`, digest fatal). AAIF v1.3 leaves this to the issuer's policy, which is the root of the ambiguity. Choose measurement-equality (fatal on digest divergenc...",
    "operational_effect": "The practical effect is that **token lifetime and attestation cadence become coupled whether or not anyone intended it.** If re-attestation is more frequent than token `exp`, every token will, at some point in its life, describe a measurement that no longer matches the running instance. Under identity-continuity semantics this is invisible; under measurement..."
  },
  "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": "2a06cf8e6119727adbf717b3b7c4cd8be6cb2cb45882dfbe39795254dc365593",
    "verified_classes": [
      "BindingDigestMismatch",
      "DelegatedToken",
      "LiveAttestation"
    ],
    "verified_functions": [
      "validate_binding",
      "exchange",
      "_digest"
    ],
    "verified_functions_count": 3,
    "defensive_guards_count": 4,
    "raised_exceptions": [
      "BindingDigestMismatch",
      "PermissionError",
      "ValueError"
    ],
    "sample_fail_closed_invariants": [],
    "stdlib_dependencies": [
      "dataclasses",
      "hashlib"
    ],
    "observation_mode": "EMPIRICAL_BOUNDARY_CAPTURE",
    "zero_external_deps": true
  }
}