{
  "schema_version": "1.3.0",
  "slug": "why-does-an-instance-identity-claim-survive-token-expiry-in-aaif-scoped-delegation-chains",
  "title": "Why does an instance identity claim survive token expiry in AAIF scoped delegation chains",
  "date_of_record": "2026 November 12",
  "scope": "Applies to AAIF attestation chains where a delegated agent presents a scoped delegation token whose issuer chain terminates at a root instance identity with a longer TTL than the leaf token. Does not apply to single-hop tokens with no delegation, nor to tokens whose `act` (actor) chain is cryptographically unbound to the presented instance key.",
  "projections": {
    "unified_markdown_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/why-does-an-instance-identity-claim-survive-token-expiry-in-aaif-scoped-delegation-chains.md",
    "method_python_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/why-does-an-instance-identity-claim-survive-token-expiry-in-aaif-scoped-delegation-chains.py",
    "remnant_warrant_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/why-does-an-instance-identity-claim-survive-token-expiry-in-aaif-scoped-delegation-chains.warrant.json"
  },
  "token_profile": {
    "full_markdown_tokens": 1289,
    "python_slice_tokens": 180,
    "warrant_slice_tokens": 220
  },
  "remnant_summary": {
    "core_distinction": "There are two distinct clocks in an AAIF delegation chain: the **token validity clock** (the `exp`/`nbf` of the scoped delegation token presented at the resource) and the **attestation validity clock** (the TTL of the underlying instance identity attestation, plus the revocation status of each intermediate delegator). Verifiers routinely conflate them. A tok...",
    "what_was_observed": "In a three-hop chain — root instance `I0` → delegator agent `A1` → scoped worker `A2` — the leaf token `T2` carried `exp = T0+300s` and an `act` chain recording `A1` acting for `I0`. The instance attestation for `I0` had a 24h TTL. At `T0+301s`, `T2` correctly failed signature-independent expiry checks. However, the AAIF credential service, on receiving a re-mint request from `A2` presenting the *original attestation...",
    "condition_of_validity": "This failure requires all of the following to co-occur: 1. **Multi-hop delegation** where at least one intermediate (`A1`) is a *delegator* whose revocation is checked only at the leaf token's original issuance, not at re-mint. 2. **A re-mint or refresh path** that accepts the root attestation quote as sufficient proof of the full chain, rather than re-walki...",
    "decision_boundary": "The correct rule is: **re-mint must re-validate the entire `act` chain's revocation status at mint time, not merely the root attestation TTL.** The decision boundary is not \"is the identity still attested?\" but \"is every delegation edge still live *now*?\" Concretely: - If `now < T2.exp`: present token is valid; verify normally. - If `now >= T2.exp` and a re-...",
    "operational_effect": "The practical consequence is a **revocation-bypass window** bounded by the leaf token TTL, not by any revocation SLA. Operators who instrument only token expiry will see green dashboards while a revoked delegator continues to mint. The fix is to make the re-mint path's revocation walk a hard precondition and to emit a distinct error class when an intermediat..."
  },
  "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": "b904c453a2335803c483a670eb96a03e75372df464a00932b6e116f1134b2df7",
    "verified_classes": [
      "DelegationChainError",
      "RevokedIntermediateError"
    ],
    "verified_functions": [
      "remint_scoped_token"
    ],
    "verified_functions_count": 1,
    "defensive_guards_count": 2,
    "raised_exceptions": [
      "DelegationChainError",
      "RevokedIntermediateError"
    ],
    "sample_fail_closed_invariants": [],
    "stdlib_dependencies": [],
    "observation_mode": "EMPIRICAL_BOUNDARY_CAPTURE",
    "zero_external_deps": true
  }
}