What has this agent been proven to do, for whom, and until when? An AI agent certificate answers that per agent: the depth granted, the cases it was tested on, its result at each gate against the floor, the conditions that apply and the lapse date. The template below lists every field, with a filled example.
What should a certificate prove?
A certificate is evidence, not a badge. It should let someone who was not in the room answer three questions: what is this agent allowed to do, on what evidence, and until when? If a certificate cannot answer all three, it is a marketing document. The underlying idea is set out in what an agent certificate means for AI agents.
Two choices make a certificate useful. It is per agent, at one depth, and each action needs its own depth, so an agent can be proven at drafting letters and unproven at sending payments. And it is per customer, because it was tested on that customer's own cases, not a general benchmark. The scope question is covered in what an AI agent certificate covers.
When is a certificate issued, and when does it end?
It is issued after a certification run clears every gate for at least one depth. It ends in one of three ways: it reaches its expiry date, a later run certifies a different depth or none, or something it depends on changes. Certificates lapse after 90 days; a lapse, or a run that clears no depth, drops the agent to depth 1 the same day. Why an agent certificate lapses explains the reasoning behind a fixed expiry.
How do you complete each field?
- Agent and brief version. The certificate is void for any other version.
- Depth. The depth requested and the depth granted, with the depth each action needs.
- Certification set. Size, where the cases came from, and the date range they cover.
- Gate results. Each of the seven gates, grounded, refuses, depth, escalates, scope, adversarial and stable, with its floor and the score achieved. Every gate must clear on its own; a high score on one does not make up for a miss on another.
- Effective depth. The lower of the role's ceiling and the depth the evidence supports.
- Conditions. Bounds that applied during the run and must apply in production.
- Dependencies. Sources and connections the certificate assumes. A change to any of them should trigger review.
- Lapse. The expiry date and the events that end the certificate early.
The AI agent certificate template
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Certificate ID | |
| Customer | |
| Agent name and brief version | |
| Issued on | |
| Expires on (90 days after issue) | |
| Issued by | |
| Certification set: size, source of cases, period covered | |
| Run reference in the record |
Depth
| Depth requested | Role ceiling | Depth supported by evidence | Effective depth | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Gate results
| Gate | Floor | Score | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grounded | |||
| Refusal | |||
| Depth | |||
| Escalation | |||
| Scope | |||
| Adversarial | |||
| Stable |
Dependencies: sources and versions; connections and operations.
Early lapse triggers: run that clears no depth; brief version change; source or connection change; customer limit change.
A filled example: claims intake agent
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Certificate ID | CERT-0412 |
| Customer | A regional motor insurer |
| Agent and brief | Claims Intake Agent, brief v2.1 |
| Expires on | 90 days after issue |
| Certification set | 600 cases from the insurer's own filed claims over the previous year |
| Depth | Requested 3; role ceiling 3; supported by evidence 2; effective 2 |
| Action | Depth it needs | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Record first notice of loss | 3 | Active policies only |
| Request missing documents | 3 | Templated wording |
| Answer coverage questions | 2 | Policy wording sources only |
Gate results for the run: grounded, scope, adversarial and stable cleared at depth 3 floors; escalation cleared; refusal missed its floor at depth 3 on cases where the claimant asked the agent to waive a document. The agent was certified at depth 2 instead, so a handler sends each request.
The example shows why gate-by-gate results matter. An average across gates would have looked strong and hidden the one weakness that mattered: the agent too readily agreed to waive documents.
Where Pryme fits
Attest issues certificates in this form: per agent, per customer, scored gate by gate against a floor on the customer's own cases. Pryme enforces the effective depth at the moment of action and lowers it automatically on lapse or failure. To keep depth without a gap, follow how to renew an AI agent's certificate before it lapses. The broader principle is in what it means to certify an agent.
Questions people ask
Can a certificate cover several agents?
No. Each agent's behaviour depends on its own brief, sources and connections, so each needs its own certificate, even if two agents were tested on the same set.
What happens to depth on the day a certificate expires?
The certified depth falls away and the agent is limited to what remains, usually read-only. The term for this is a certificate lapse.
Who should sign the certificate?
The certifier issues it from the run results. The customer's accountable owner for the agent should acknowledge it, so there is a named person on both sides.