What is Capability?
Capability — A scoped, grantable permission to perform a single action, one that can also be revoked.
Capability is the primitive that answers what exactly is this agent allowed to do? It packages a single permission into something that can be granted, carried, and withdrawn.
It is the layer that makes authority precise. A capability narrows broad permission to one action, so an agent holds only what it needs.
Where capability sits in the stack
In the four-layer architecture of the agentic web, capability is a Cross-cutting concept — it applies across every layer of the stack. See the thesis for how the layers compound.
Capability in the portfolio
11 positions in the Semantic Substrate portfolio carry the Capability primitive — 4 available individually, 7 held as a coordinated set.
Explore the Capability cluster →Quick answers
- What is Capability in agentic systems?
- A scoped, grantable permission to perform a single action, one that can also be revoked.
- Where does Capability sit in the agentic stack?
- Capability sits at the Cross-cutting layer — it applies across every layer of the stack.
- How many Capability domain positions exist in the Semantic Substrate portfolio?
- 11 positions carry the Capability primitive — 4 available individually, the rest held as a coordinated set.
Related primitives
ConstitutionalInfrastructureObservabilityOrchestrationIntelligenceAttestationAttributionConvergenceIntegrationAutonomousDelegationFederationGovernanceProvenanceSettlementAuthorityExecutionPrecedentSovereignSubstrateDecisionOverridePlatformProtocolSemanticTemporalBindingCustodyEconomyLineageProcessQuantumRoyaltySpatialUnifiedNeuralSafetyTreatyAgentGhostModelSwarmTrustTwin
Held in the portfolio under Capability.