Agent Permission Scoping (Onboarding)
A checklist with 7 steps: Inventory every agent in the proposed chain and write down its single job in one sentence.
By InnovaAI ResearchPublished
What are the steps?
Agent Permission Scoping (Onboarding)
- 01
Inventory every agent in the proposed chain and write down its single job in one sentence
A chain with seven specialist roles (research, extraction, drafting, compliance, routing) needs seven written job definitions before any credential is issued. If two agents share a job description, merge them.
- 02
Map each agent to the minimum client-system access its job requires, then cut that list in half
A drafting agent that reads a CRM export does not need write access to the pipeline. Nonce's per-request scoped access model for Gmail, Calendar, Drive, and Slack is the pattern to copy: expiring, task-bound grants rather than standing inbox permissions.
- 03
Separate read agents from write agents and require human approval on every write step
Publishing, purchasing, and outbound messaging are the three write actions that generate client liability. Route them through an approval queue rather than letting the chain execute end to end.
- 04
Set a hard spend and step ceiling per run before the first live execution
Token-billed workflows can destroy retainer margin when a loop misfires. Cap total steps per run and total tokens per client per month, and log both against the SOW estimate.
- 05
Define the fallback path for each handoff point in the chain
For every agent-to-agent transition, specify what happens when the upstream output is empty, malformed, or late. A chain that halts silently at step three is worse than a manual process.
- 06
Run the full chain against a sandboxed client account for one week before production cutover
Log every tool call and every permission request. Any access the chain asks for that is not on the approved list is a scoping failure, not a convenience.
- 07
Document the kill switch and name the person who can pull it
One named operator per client account holds authority to halt the chain. Record the switch location in the client-facing runbook so the agency is not the only party who knows how to stop it.