Logical versus physical architecture
Logical boundaries are mandatory; physical distribution is optional. A modular monolith can be correct, and a microservice deployment can still be poorly bounded. Preserve lifecycle, authority, adapters, context, tools, recovery, and evidence even when they share a process.
Environment model
Local development
Deterministic fakes, disposable workspace, and no production credentials.
Integration and staging
Representative policies, schemas, queues, evidence, and failure injection.
Production
Version-pinned routes, least privilege, monitored SLOs, and tested rollback.
Isolated or edge runtime
Separate high-risk or disconnected execution with explicit synchronization and evidence export.
Configuration and secrets
- Version non-secret configuration; store secrets in a vault or secret manager.
- Never place secrets in prompts or evidence.
- Pin environment-specific model routes, policy versions, and schema versions.
- Bind credentials to tenant, action, destination, and expiration.
Atomic release manifest
Version together application/runtime code, runtime profile, model route and model version, prompt contract, tool schemas, policy version, evidence schema, database/event migrations, and container/image digests.
Rollback
- Retain previous adapters and preserve schema compatibility.
- Drain or explicitly migrate active runs.
- Do not silently change tool semantics.
- Record control-plane deployment events.
- Test current evidence readers against historical events.
Operational runbook
Capacity and dependency incidents
Queue saturation, model provider outage, policy-service outage, evidence-store degradation, and approval backlog.
Control incidents
Stuck recovery loop, credential incident, context contamination, deployment rollback, and emergency termination.
SLOs and metrics
Outcome
Task success and first-attempt success.
Recovery
Recovery rate and operator intervention.
Governance
Policy-compliant completion and approval latency.
Operations
Tool reliability and cost per completed workflow.
Evidence
Completeness, integrity, and read compatibility.
Source record
References
- Cloud Design Patterns Primary source
Microsoft. Azure Architecture Center. Published Current documentation; last reviewed 2026-06-23 UTC. Official architecture guidance.
National Institute of Standards and Technology. NIST. Published 2023-01-26; last reviewed 2026-06-20 UTC. Government framework.
OpenTelemetry project. Cloud Native Computing Foundation. Published Current specification repository; last reviewed 2026-06-24 UTC. Official specification.