An AI agent authority budget represents permission as several measurable allowances rather than one binary access decision. Dimensions can include which resources are accessible, how many writes are allowed, maximum cost, impact and which actions require approval.
Budgets can refill over time or change with risk and evidence. A proxy or policy layer should enforce them outside the model so an agent cannot modify its own identity, quota or approval requirement.
ELI5
An agent authority budget is a cap on how much an AI agent is allowed to do or spend. It prevents a long or mistaken run from consuming unlimited resources simply because the agent keeps asking.
For example, a purchasing agent might receive a daily budget of 50 euros and a maximum of five transactions. The payment system blocks further purchases when either limit is reached, even if the agent continues trying.
What dimensions can an agent authority budget include?
It can include resource scope, write rate, aggregate count, financial cost, reversibility and required human approval.
Why use a budget instead of one access token?
A budget can allow useful bounded work while limiting repeated or high-impact actions that broad binary access would permit.
