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  3. Govern

Know Your Agent: govern

Trust every outcome.

Govern authorizes the agents you want to work with. A verified person grants an agent a delegation with specific scopes and limits, every request carries a cryptographic proof of who the agent is and what it’s allowed to do, and every action lands in an audit trail.

An agent acting under a delegation from a verified personMaya, a verified human, grants her agent a delegation with two scopes for one hour. Every request carries a cryptographic proof that is verified, allowed and logged for audit. DELEGATIONW3C verifiable credentialMaya R.Issuer · verified humanHer agentdid:key:z6Mk…7QfSCOPESfiles:readpayment:createValid for 1 hour · revocable any timePROOF ON EVERY REQUESTAgent DIDMatchesAudienceapi.yoursite.comNonceFreshDelegationValid, in scopeAllowProof verified · logged to the audit trail

Why it matters

Agents need identity, not just access.

Handing an agent a password or an API key gives it everything, and tells you nothing about who sent it.

Shared credentials over-grant

An agent with a person’s keys can do anything that person can, for as long as the keys work.

No link to a person

Without a delegation, you can’t tell which verified person authorized an agent, or what they agreed to.

No record to audit

When something goes wrong, there’s no proof of which agent did what, under whose authority.

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How it works

Delegated, proven, logged.

Read the docs
  1. auth.yoursite.com Approve this agent?Maya’s agent is requestingfiles:readpayment:createFor 1 hour · revocable any timeDenyApprove

    The agent gets a delegation

    Through an OAuth or consent flow, a person grants the agent specific scopes, for a set time, under set constraints.

  2. api.yoursite.com A proof on every request{ "agent": "did:key:z6Mk…", "aud": "api.yoursite.com", "nonce": "8f1c…", "delegation": "vc:…" }Signed by the agent’s key

    Every request carries a proof

    The agent signs a proof with its DID, the audience, a nonce and a reference to its delegation.

  3. your server Verified before accessapp.post("/api/files", createBouncerMiddleware({ requiredScopes: ["files:write"] }), handler)ALLOWProof valid · in scope

    Your server verifies it

    Middleware checks the proof with Know Your Agent before the request reaches your handler, including the scopes it needs.

  4. dashboard DelegationsMaya’s agentfiles:readOps bottickets:writeTrial agentRevokedRevoke a delegation in one click

    Everything is audited

    Delegations and proofs appear in the dashboard, where you can review activity and revoke a delegation at any time.

What you get

Zero trust for every agent request.

Agent DIDs

Every agent has a stable, verifiable decentralized identifier across sessions and services.

Delegations

Authorization grants from a person to an agent, with scopes, duration and constraints.

Proofs on every request

A cryptographic assertion ties each request to the agent and its delegation.

Fine-grained scopes

Grant files:read without payment:create, and require specific scopes per endpoint or tool.

Verifiable credentials

Identity and permissions issued as credentials anyone can verify independently.

Flexible consent

Consent-only approval, OAuth, credentials or your own identity provider.

Deployment

Run a KYA-OS server your way.

Dashboard deploy

One-click setup with your GitHub repo and a Cloudflare Worker.

Molti

Managed hosting: Know Your Agent runs the agent, with no repo or Cloudflare account needed.

Self-host

Full control with the KYA-OS packages, on your own infrastructure, with your own keys.

Migrate an MCP server

Add KYA-OS identity and authorization to an existing MCP server without rewriting it.

Who it’s for

Built for teams facing the agentic web.

FAQ

Govern, answered.

Straight answers about govern with Vouched Know Your Agent.

Contact us with a question
What is AI agent governance?

It’s authorizing the agents you want to work with, under controlled conditions. With Govern, every agent request must carry a cryptographic proof of identity and authorization before it reaches a protected resource.

What is a delegation?

An authorization grant from a person or service to an AI agent. It specifies what the agent can do (its scopes), for how long, and under what constraints, much like an OAuth token for an agent.

What is a proof?

A cryptographic assertion attached to each request, containing the agent’s DID, the target audience, a nonce and a reference to the delegation that authorizes the request.

What is KYA-OS?

Know Your Agent Operating System, the open standard for AI agent identity and authorization that Vouched authored and donated to the Decentralized Identity Foundation.

How do people approve what an agent can do?

Through an auth method you choose: consent-only approval, OAuth sign-in with providers such as GitHub, Google or Microsoft, credentials, or your own identity provider.

Can I add KYA-OS to an existing MCP server?

Yes. You can add KYA-OS identity and authorization to an existing MCP server without rewriting it.

Can I revoke an agent’s access?

Yes. Active delegations are listed in the dashboard, where you can revoke them, and proofs are logged for audit.

How is Govern different from Enforce?

Govern authorizes known agents with cryptographic verification, typically for MCP servers and APIs. Enforce detects and applies policies to unknown agents on websites and apps. Use both together.

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