Glossary

Canonical terms, with a strict hierarchy: DTP is the protocol, the KYA Score is the customer-facing trust score, and EDQS is the research methodology that powers the anomaly gate. When in doubt, this page wins.

Decision Trust Protocol (DTP)

The protocol. A nine-step authorization pipeline — seven decision gates plus two system steps — that evaluates every agent-initiated transaction and returns an enriched, explainable decision.

KYA Score (Know Your Agent)

The customer-facing composite trust score (0–1) attached to every authorization decision and every agent. Maps to four trust zones — GREEN / AMBER / RED / CRITICAL (see Trust zones). If a number travels to your dashboard, webhook, or network field, it is the KYA Score.

EDQS (Economic Decision Quality Score)

The research methodology behind decision-quality evaluation. Scores the quality of an agent's economic reasoning across six dimensions: alternative analysis, confidence calibration, constraint alignment, temporal efficiency, value optimization, and risk-adjusted reasoning. EDQS is internal signal science; it surfaces to customers through the anomaly gate and the KYA Score. See the EDQS Research Framework and the three-layer model below.

Three-layer signal model

Layer 1 — collection: seven ABT signal classes (cadence, intent coherence, amount distribution, merchant affinity, session topology, error response, trust trajectory) gather observed behavior. Layer 2 — detection: six anomaly detectors at gate 3 (confidence inflation, alternatives collapse, reasoning length anomaly, vocabulary shift, amount escalation, MCC drift) test each transaction against the baseline. Layer 3 — evaluation: the six EDQS quality dimensions grade the decision itself. The three lists are related but distinct — do not interchange their names.

Authorization pipeline

The canonical nine steps: 1 Agent Resolve · 2 Intent Verification · 3 Anomaly Gate (EDQS) · 4 Mandate Enforcement · 5 Behavioral Overlay · 6 Risk Scoring · 7 KYA Decision · 8 Persist + Webhooks (system) · 9 Async Post-Decision (system). Steps 1–7 are decision gates; 8–9 are system steps.

Agent

An autonomous AI system registered with Mandate Labs that initiates transactions under a principal's authority. Identified by an agent ID bound to API credentials, with an accumulated behavioral baseline.

Principal

The human or organization that delegates spending authority to agents and owns the liability for their transactions.

Mandate

A programmable grant of spending authority from a principal to an agent: amount ceilings, merchant category (MCC) restrictions, geographic constraints, temporal windows, and frequency limits. Mandates are enforced at gate 4 against platform-held data — they are not agent-attested.

intent_context

The structured object an agent must submit with every authorization request: intent_type, task_reference, reasoning_summary, confidence, alternatives_considered. An attestation, not a credential — see What we verify vs. what agents attest.

Trust zones

Four zones, mapped from the KYA Score: GREEN (≥ 0.7 — healthy, continue) · AMBER (0.4–0.7 — degradation detected, limits tightened 25%) · RED (0.2–0.4 — significant risk, limits halved) · CRITICAL (< 0.2 — session termination recommended). Zone transitions fire kya.zone.* webhooks; kya.zone.red and kya.zone.critical mark the two escalation thresholds.

Behavioral Overlay

Gate 5: model-risk monitoring of the agent's current behavioral state — reasoning degradation, drift from baseline, and prompt-injection indicators. (Research publications refer to this layer as cognitive trust monitoring.)

Decision

The pipeline output: APPROVE, DECLINE, or STEP_UP, with KYA Score, risk score, fired gates, and reason codes. Decisions are advisory inputs to the customer's own authorization logic (see MSA §1.3).

Fail policy

Platform behavior when a dependency is unavailable. Default FAIL_CLOSED (decline recommendation). Principals may configure fail-open below a maximum amount threshold, at their own risk.

MCI (Mandate Certified Integration)

The certification program gating production access: sandbox conformance across all transaction types, intent_context implementation review, mandate configuration validation, webhook and failure-handling verification, and UAT sign-off.

Numbers canon

Every count, and what it refers to — do not interchange: 9 pipeline steps (7 decision gates + 2 system steps) · 7 ABT signal classes (collection) · 42 ABF features (six per signal class, 6×7) · 17 risk-signal taxonomy types (DTP §7.2, deep analysis) · 8 signal categories surfaced in the dashboard (product subset of the 17) · 6 anomaly detectors (gate 3) · 6 EDQS quality dimensions (evaluation rubric) · 4 trust zones · 4 KYA components (production formula) · 23ms engine decision time under burst; sub-100ms P50 sustained end-to-end (see status page for live figures).

Derived Data

De-identified, aggregated telemetry derived from platform usage, used to improve scoring models and publish benchmarks. Defined in MSA §7.3.