Grant record template
Fields for issuer, holder, scope, evidence basis, expiry, revocation conditions, and state.
MEC-13 Authority grant register
Hold every delegated authority as a stateful record with provenance, scope, evidence basis, expiry, revocation conditions, and state history.
Permanent link /mechanisms/patterns/authority-grant-register
Where it fits
Filters and handoffs
Tagged for Governance, Policy with validator handshakes. Includes 3 steps, 3 reusable assets, and 4 snippet blocks.
Copy citation (APA/BibTeX)
Cite this page Formats: APA, MLA, Chicago, BibTeX, RIS
APA
Ethotechnics Institute Research Team. (2026). MEC-13 Authority grant register. Ethotechnics Institute. https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/authority-grant-register
MLA
Ethotechnics Institute Research Team. "MEC-13 Authority grant register." Ethotechnics Institute, 2026, https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/authority-grant-register.
Chicago
Ethotechnics Institute Research Team. "MEC-13 Authority grant register." Ethotechnics Institute. Jan 9, 2026. https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/authority-grant-register.
BibTeX
@misc{mechanism_authority-grant-register,
title={MEC-13 Authority grant register},
author={Ethotechnics Institute Research Team},
year={2026},
howpublished={Ethotechnics Institute},
url={https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/authority-grant-register},
version={v1.1.0}
}
RIS
TY - WEB TI - MEC-13 Authority grant register AU - Ethotechnics Institute Research Team PY - 2026 UR - https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/authority-grant-register ER -
Specification overview
At-a-glance details for planning and handoffs.
Capture the scope, assets, and validator handshakes before diving into the steps.
Spec essentials
What ships with this mechanism
- 3 steps with checklist-ready owners.
- 3 reusable assets for briefs and runbooks.
- 4 reuse-ready snippet blocks.
- 3 glossary anchors for shared terms.
Filters & validators
Where this spec sits in the system
Tagged in 2 filters with 1 linked validators.
Glossary anchors
Link back to the definitions.
Jump to the glossary terms that frame this mechanism.
Steps
Put the mechanism in motion.
Start with the field cues, then use the assets to keep the work legible.
3 steps with checklist-ready owners, plus linked assets for handoffs.
0 of 3 steps complete
Assets
Keep outputs reusable.
Link or copy these assets into design docs, runbooks, and briefs so the mechanism travels with the work.
State transition table
The permitted moves between grant states and who may make each one.
Renewal calendar
Upcoming expiries with the reviewer responsible for each renewal decision.
Reuse-ready snippets
Copy policy, audit, and incident language.
Use these snippets in requirements, audits, and postmortems with the mechanism permalink.
Policy requirement
Policy requirement (MEC-13 Authority grant register) - Maintain a register of delegated authorities with issuer, scope, evidence basis, expiry, and revocation conditions. - Record every grant state change with its reason and reviewer, and expose the register to the decision log. Reference: https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/authority-grant-register
Product requirement
Product requirement (MEC-13) - Each consequential action names the grant identifier and grant state it ran under. - Grants past expiry move to review_required and are refused until a reviewer renews them.
Audit evidence checklist
Audit evidence checklist (MEC-13) [ ] Every exercised authority has a register entry with issuer and scope. [ ] Grants carry an expiry and stated revocation conditions. [ ] State history shows who changed each grant and on what basis.
Postmortem trigger
Postmortem trigger (MEC-13) Trigger review when an action runs under a grant that is missing, expired, or not in the allowed state.
Example usage
Registering an agent's refund authority
A concrete scenario to help teams see how the pieces fit together.
How it plays out
A support platform records the agent's refund authority as a grant with a value ceiling, an evidence basis in the last accuracy review, a 90-day expiry, and revocation on any confirmed mis-refund; the refund endpoint reads the grant state before acting.
Anti-patterns
Common failure cases and counterfactuals
Use these to avoid superficial compliance and clarify what success requires.
Permissions as config
Authority lives in a role file or feature flag with no issuer, basis, or expiry, so widening it is a deploy rather than a decision.
Counterfactual: Authority lives in a register where each grant names its issuer, basis, expiry, and revocation conditions.
False-positive warning: Config can still enforce the grant; the register is the record of why the config says what it says.
Register without state
Grants are documented once and never move, so an expired or contested grant reads the same as a current one.
Counterfactual: Each grant carries a current state and an appended history of transitions.
False-positive warning: A stable grant is fine; what matters is that the register can show it was reviewed and left in place.
Validators
Pair validators with this mechanism.
Use these tools to size risk and keep the stewardship path visible.
Validator
System Audit & Guardrail Synthesizer
Evaluates AI system prompts, architectures, and automated decision logic against 80+ governance failure modes and synthesizes executable guardrail code and legal SLA clauses.