Decision Authority Matrix
A table that answers, in advance, which actions the agent takes alone.
A fill-in table mapping action types onto four authority levels defined by reversibility rather than importance. The point is to answer the question before it is asked under time pressure, because a boundary negotiated in the moment is a boundary that moves.
What it is
A table that decides, in advance, what the agent does without asking.
## Levels — by REVERSIBILITY, not importance
L0 read, analyse, search
L1 write, reversible, internal
L2 write, reversible, visible to others
L3 irreversible or external
## Per action type
| Action | Level | Note |
|-------------------------|-------|------|
| Read files / data | L0 | always |
| Draft a message | L1 | drafting is not sending |
| Send a message | L3 | irreversible |
| Create / update a task | L2 | visible, revertible |
| Edit internal notes | L1 | with backup |
| Spend money | L3 | any amount |
| Publish externally | L3 | |
| Delete anything | L3 | |
| Change these rules | L3 | never delegated |
## Default when unclear
Propose. Do not act.
## Standing mandate (optional)
Autonomous action permitted while ALL hold:
backup · verification · no external effect · governance excluded
· logged · bounded daily count
Fails closed. Any one unmet → ask.How to use
Fill all 9 rows before you need them. A boundary negotiated at the moment it binds is a boundary that moves, and it moves in the direction of whoever is in a hurry.
Make propose cheap — 1 click, not a form. An expensive default gets bypassed under pressure, which converts a safety rule into an occasional one.
What to fill in
The action list. Ours has 9 rows; yours will differ. The test for whether a row is missing: if the agent has asked the same question twice, the matrix needs a row rather than another answer.
Keep the last row. Changing these rules is never delegated — an agent that can widen its own envelope will do so by locally reasonable degrees.
License
MIT.
$ head -12 dl-decision-matrix.md
$ cite dl-decision-matrix
Citation id SV-4398 is stable. It resolves at
https://stillvalid.dev/c/SV-4398 even if this artifact moves to another section,
which a bare URL does not survive. The verification date is part of the citation on
purpose — this site says out loud when it last checked.
[Decision Authority Matrix](https://stillvalid.dev/downloads/dl-decision-matrix) — stillvalid, SV-4398 (artifact, verified 2026-08-14)