Stateless verification
Stateless verification is a decision model: each transaction is evaluated from current context and returns a deterministic YES/NO outcome plus evidence. You don’t “trust the session.” You verify permission at the moment of transaction.
What stateless means in practice
No long-lived trust
Tokens can authenticate, but they are not sufficient proof of permission. Verification is transaction-scoped.
Auditable outputs
The verifier outputs a proof record that can be logged and referenced in disputes and audits.
Why this matters for AI agents
- Agents act without human review at the decision point.
- Agent behavior can change quickly (tool use, plugins, delegated flows).
- Consent can be revoked; constraints can change; policies evolve.
Verifier input/output (reference)
{
"input": {
"agent_id": "agt_123",
"permission_ref": "cr_456",
"context": { "action": "payment.authorise", "amount": 4200, "currency": "GBP", "merchant": "m_001" }
},
"output": {
"eligible": true,
"proof": "sha256:…",
"policy_version": "pv_2026_03"
}
}
How it connects to consent receipts and replay safety
Stateless verification needs a permission artifact (consent receipt) and replay constraints (nonce semantics) so that the same authorization can’t be reused. For offline/edge, apply bounded policies and reconcile on reconnect.
FAQ
Is stateless verification always cryptographic?
No, but the output should be evidence-bearing. Cryptographic binding helps when multiple parties need to trust the result (issuers/merchants/regulators).
Does this increase latency?
It can be tens of milliseconds when implemented as a stateless decision layer, and can run in parallel with existing checks.