Action Fabric
A lifecycle that makes every agent action a governed object: dry-run, propose, approve, execute, compensate.
category ▸ Operations
Action Fabric, in plain language.
An action fabric treats the things an agent does to the world — issue a refund, send a message, update a record — as first-class governed objects rather than opaque side effects. Each action moves through an explicit lifecycle so that proposing, approving, executing, and undoing are distinct, recorded steps.
The payoff is control and recoverability. Because an action is proposed before it executes, it can be gated. Because it is recorded with an evidence pack, it can be audited. And because it can declare a compensating action, an executed change can be rolled back rather than left as a mess to clean up by hand.
How Cortex implements it.
This term isn't abstract here — it maps to a real capability in the runtime. Here is exactly how Cortex enforces or relates to it.
Cortex's Action Fabric runs every action through dry-run → propose → approve/deny → execute → compensate. High-risk or requires-approval actions land pending_approval; everything else executes immediately; and an action with a rollback key can be compensated to reverse it.
Each invocation is recorded in an immutable ledger with an evidence pack — including the ontology object it targeted — so processing integrity is provable: the action was complete, authorized, and reversible.
Keep building the vocabulary.
These terms sit next to this one in the governed-AI model — follow the thread to see how the controls connect.
Approval gate
A hold that pauses a high-risk action until a designated human approves it.
Oversight modes
Per-agent autonomy levels that decide whether an action executes now or waits for a human.
Kill switch
An instant control that stops an agent or tool server from acting, immediately.
Trust Ledger
A tamper-evident, hash-chained record of every governed run, action, and approval.
See Action Fabric enforced, not just defined.
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