Actor boundaries - Soteris Developer Docs

Every state and transition is scoped to actors. An actor is anyone or anything that can touch an engagement: the client, the partner system, the agent runtime, the operator, the reviewer, and the Soteris backend. The boundaries exist to keep preparation separate from authority.

Actors

Actor	Can prepare, read, or request	Cannot do
Client	Submit inputs, read own engagement status, respond to clarifications	Change lifecycle state or authorize release
Partner system	Read agreed state and record shapes, submit mapped inputs	Approve, review, or release
Agent runtime	Read permitted context, prepare drafts and findings, request clarification	Conclude, approve, or release
Operator	Coordinate workflow, move an engagement through operational steps	Provide professional approval
Reviewer	Exercise review authority, approve, authorize release	Delegate professional judgment to an agent
Soteris backend	Validate transitions, record events, store references	Substitute for reviewer judgment

Actor split

The six actors, split between preparation and authority.

Division of ownership

Preparation and authority are different roles by design. Agents and operators move work forward. Only the reviewer holds professional approval, and only the backend commits state. This is how automated preparation advances the work without becoming the authority of record. For a partner system, the practical consequence: nothing the partner side submits, and nothing an agent prepares, changes official state by itself. State changes when the actor with authority for that transition commits it, per State transitions. The same split governs release, in Release conditions.