Conformance Profile
Foundation Profile
Standard: Automated Record Custody Standard (ARCS) v1.0 Published by: Vega Commons Project, Inc. Version: 1.0 Date: April 2026 Status: Normative conformance profile
1. Purpose
This document defines the Foundation Profile for ARCS (Automated Record Custody Standard).
The Foundation Profile identifies the smallest set of controls sufficient for an organization to establish that it has identified its interaction record surface and begun governing it. It is the entry point for organizations that have not previously treated interaction records as a governed record class.
The Foundation Profile is not a full implementation of ARCS; it establishes record identification, custody mapping, and taxonomy as governed activities. Organizations that require preservation, verification, operator boundary, or publish boundary controls should implement the Minimum or Enterprise profiles.
2. Scope
The Foundation Profile applies to any deployment that generates interaction records through automated or software-mediated operation, where the organization has determined that those records should be identified and classified but has not yet established the full lifecycle governance posture required by the Minimum Profile.
Typical Foundation deployments include early-stage AI adoption environments where the record surface has not been formally mapped, organizations beginning a governance assessment against ARCS, and environments where the immediate objective is identification and classification rather than full lifecycle control.
3. Conformance Model
A deployment conforms to the ARCS Foundation Profile if all required controls from the three core families are implemented, required documentation exists, and non-creation claims are auditable where asserted.
Conformance may be declared by operator attestation or internal assessment. The Foundation Profile does not require independent verification, though organizations may elect it.
4. Required Control Families
The Foundation Profile requires controls from three core families and one conditional family:
| Family Code | Family Name | Profile Status |
|---|---|---|
| ARCS-LIF | Record Lifecycle | Required |
| ARCS-CUS | Custody Surface | Required |
| ARCS-TAX | Record Taxonomy | Required |
| ARCS-NCR | Non-Creation Posture | Required if claimed |
Non-Creation controls (ARCS-NCR) are required only if the deployment asserts non-retention or non-creation for any record category.
5. Families Not Required at Foundation
The following families are not required for Foundation Profile conformance. They are required at the Minimum or Enterprise level.
| Family Code | Family Name | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| ARCS-OPB | Operator Boundary | Requires organizational boundary governance |
| ARCS-PUB | Publish Boundary | Requires external distribution governance |
| ARCS-PV | Preservation and Legal Hold | Requires legal hold integration |
| ARCS-VER | Verification and Audit | Requires formal verification cycle |
| ARCS-AGT | Agent Runtime | Applicable only to agentic deployments |
| ARCS-DEL | Delegation and Memory | Applicable only to delegated execution |
Organizations operating under regulatory obligations that require preservation, audit, or legal hold capabilities should implement the Minimum Profile rather than Foundation.
6. What Foundation Establishes
A Foundation-conformant deployment has identified the material record classes generated by its automated systems, mapped where those records persist and who holds custody, and applied a classification taxonomy that distinguishes record types by governance relevance.
These three activities are prerequisites for all higher-level ARCS controls. Lifecycle governance, preservation, verification, and operator boundary controls all depend on the organization knowing what records exist, where they are, and how they are classified.
7. Relationship to Minimum and Enterprise Profiles
The Foundation Profile is a strict subset of the Minimum Profile. Every control required at Foundation is also required at Minimum. An organization that conforms to the Minimum Profile automatically satisfies all Foundation requirements.
The Foundation Profile is intended as a transitional posture. Organizations should plan to advance to Minimum Profile conformance as their governance maturity increases. The Foundation Profile does not represent a permanent governance posture for deployments that generate records subject to regulatory retention, legal hold, or audit obligations.
8. Attestation
Foundation Profile conformance is declared through the ARCS attestation template with the following specifications: declared profile is Foundation, declared maturity level is 1 (Record identification) or 2 (Surface mapping), assessment type is self-assessment, and scope identifies all in-scope deployments and any exclusions with justification.
The attestation template is available at Attestation Template.