Action Contract Schema

Action Contract Schema

The Safe Action Contract is the governance contract that an agent must satisfy before any action is dispatched. It encodes blast radius, idempotency, rollback, and authorization so that every tool call can be audited and reversed.

Schema file: specs/action_contract.schema.json

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Required Fields

Field	Type	Description
actionId	string	Stable, unique action identifier. Never reused.
actionType	string	Logical name of the action (e.g., quarantine_account, send_alert).
blastRadiusTier	enum	Potential impact scope: tiny / small / medium / large.
targetRefs	array	One or more {type, id} objects identifying the affected resources.
constraints	object	Policy/budget/scope constraints: rate limits, change windows, scope bounds.
authorization	object	Auth mode + optional policy reference and approver. See below.
idempotencyKey	string	Stable key ensuring the action has the same effect if replayed.
rollbackPlan	object	How the action can be reversed. See below.

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Authorization

Field	Type	Values / Description
mode	enum	auto — dispatch without human approval
		hitl — pause for human-in-the-loop approval
		blocked — action not permitted under current policy
policyRef	string	Optional ID of the policy pack that determined the mode
approver	string	Role or identity required for hitl approval

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Rollback Plan

Field	Type	Values / Description
type	enum	none — no rollback possible (action is irreversible by design)
		compensate — issue a compensating action
		restore — restore from snapshot or backup
		revert — undo the mutation (e.g., delete a created record)
instructions	object	Free-form instructions for the rollback procedure
timeoutMs	integer	Maximum time allowed for rollback execution

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Optional Fields

Field	Type	Description
preconditions	array	Declarative checks that must pass before dispatch (e.g., TTL ok, resource state matches).
execution.executionSloMs	integer	Target execution time (informational SLO).
execution.timeoutMs	integer	Hard timeout — abort and rollback if exceeded.
execution.retryPolicy.maxRetries	integer	Number of retry attempts on transient failure.
execution.retryPolicy.backoffMs	integer	Delay between retries (ms).

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Blast Radius Tiers

Tier	Scope	Typical Actions
tiny	Single record, read-only or append	Log entry, status read
small	Single record, mutating	Update flag, soft-delete record
medium	Multiple records or single high-value record	Account suspension, batch update
large	Cross-system or irreversible at scale	Mass notification, infrastructure change

Blast radius determines whether verification is required (controlled by the DTE verification.requiredAboveBlastRadius field) and whether hitl authorization applies.

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Relationship to Other Schemas

• DTE Schema — sets blastRadiusMax and requireRollbackAbove constraints that the action contract must satisfy
• Episode Schema — the episode's actions array embeds the action contract ref
• Drift Schema — bypass drift type fires when an action is dispatched without a valid contract

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Related Pages

• Contracts — overview of all four contract types
• Sealing & Episodes — how action contracts are stamped into sealed episodes
• Degrade Ladder — how blast radius tiers interact with degrade steps
• Schemas — all JSON Schema specs