Section navigation
LIFRecord LifecycleCUSCustody SurfaceTAXRecord TaxonomyOPBOperator BoundaryPUBPublish BoundaryNCRNon-Creation PosturePVPreservation and Legal HoldVERVerification and AuditAGTAgent RuntimeDELDelegation and Memory

ARCS-DEL: Delegation and Memory

Enterprise Profile

The ARCS-DEL family addresses records that persist through delegation, memory, and continued execution beyond a single immediate interaction. The controls in this family govern delegation chains, persisted context, memory-bearing artifacts, and continuity of responsibility across retained state. These controls are grouped together because memory and delegation change the temporal and operational shape of record governance. What matters is not only what was said or done in one moment, but what state was carried forward, by whom, and under what governing conditions.

The formal definition and scope of this family are maintained in the Standard.

ControlDescription
DEL-01The operator SHALL identify whether deployment involves persistent memory, delegated authority, or autonomous execution. Document which conditions apply and confirm non-applicability of inapplicable conditions in the conformance statement.
DEL-02The operator SHALL classify agent memory stores requiring cross-session persistence as governed persistence. Document maximum retention period, deletion mechanism, storage location, and backup or synchronization exposure.
DEL-03The operator SHALL subject governed-persistence memory stores to an automatic purge schedule. Log purge operations with sufficient metadata to confirm purge occurred.
DEL-04The operator SHALL suspend automatic purge of governed-persistence memory stores when a preservation obligation arises under ARCS-PV. Confirm preservation posture reaches the memory store storage location.
DEL-05The operator SHALL classify delegation artifacts as deliberative records. Document classification applied to delegation artifacts and rationale for any non-ephemeral classification.
DEL-06The operator SHALL document the scope of authority delegated to each agent or agent class: authorized actions, accessible external systems, runtime configurability, and disclosure to downstream systems.
DEL-07For autonomous execution sequences, the operator SHALL define governance posture: intermediate artifact classification, session scope determination, and record generated at sequence completion.
DEL-08The operator SHALL extend ARCS-CUS custody surface documentation to cover governed-persistence memory stores, delegation artifacts, and autonomous execution records across all storage locations.
DEL-09The operator SHALL disclose whether any vendor retains agent memory content, delegation artifacts, or autonomous execution records. Document vendor retention with same specificity as other deliberative record retention.
DEL-10The operator SHALL confirm at preservation trigger that posture covers governed-persistence memory stores, delegation artifacts, and autonomous execution records. Address vendor-held agent memory and execution records in preservation notice.
DEL-11Attestation record for ARCS-DEL deployments SHALL identify: persistent memory use; delegated authority use; autonomous execution use; retention class per memory store; purge schedule; and whether any vendor holds agent memory content subject to preservation obligations.
DEL-12Emergent autonomous execution: where an agent creates records documenting actions outside the behavioral envelope defined by the operator, the operator SHALL document whether the implementation detects such actions, whether records are distinguishable from anticipated-action records, the operator notification mechanism and latency, and whether visibility of the action at occurrence time can be determined after the fact.