Operator Configuration

Machine-to-machine deployments (no live human in the delegation loop) use an OperatorConfig loaded at startup. This governs how the operator issues root delegations, manages key material, and handles out-of-policy requests.

Configuration file format

{
  "drs_root_type": "automated-system",
  "operator_did": "did:key:z6MkOperator...",
  "operator_key_management": "env",
  "standing_policy": {
    "allowed_tools": ["web_search", "write_file", "read_file"],
    "max_cost_usd": 100.00,
    "pii_access": false,
    "write_access": true
  },
  "renewal_rules": {
    "auto_renew": true,
    "session_ttl_hours": 8,
    "max_renewal_count": 0
  },
  "escalation": {
    "target_type": "organisation",
    "supervisor_did": "did:key:z6MkSupervisor...",
    "fallback": "deny"
  },
  "storage_tier": 2
}

Load in TypeScript:

import { parseOperatorConfig } from '@drs/sdk';
import { readFileSync } from 'fs';

const cfg = parseOperatorConfig(
  JSON.parse(readFileSync('operator-config.json', 'utf-8'))
);
// Throws DrsError: INVALID_OPERATOR_CONFIG if any field is invalid

Key management options

`operator_key_management`	Where the key lives
`"env"`	`DRS_OPERATOR_KEY` environment variable (base64url-encoded 32 bytes)
`"file"`	Path in `operator_key_path` — raw 32-byte Ed25519 key file
`"aws-kms"`	AWS KMS — requires `DRS_KMS_KEY_ID` env var
`"gcp-kms"`	GCP Cloud KMS — requires `DRS_GCP_KEY_NAME` env var

Security: Never use "file" or "env" in production with keys that have regulatory significance. Use "aws-kms" or "gcp-kms" for production operator keys. See Key Management.

Root type

`drs_root_type`	When to use
`"automated-system"`	Fully automated operator — no human consent loop
`"organisation"`	Represents an organisation that has a defined approval process

Human-rooted delegations ("human") are not used in OperatorConfig — they require a live human consent interaction per session.

Renewal rules

Field	Description
`auto_renew`	If `true`, the agent runtime renews the session delegation before it expires
`session_ttl_hours`	How long each session delegation is valid
`max_renewal_count`	Maximum renewals per original session. `0` = unlimited

Escalation behaviour

When an agent requests an action exceeding the standing_policy:

Request is held (not rejected immediately)
Notification sent to supervisor_did
If supervisor approves: a new sub-DR is issued with expanded policy
If supervisor does not respond within timeout: fallback applies

`fallback`	Behaviour
`"deny"`	Request is rejected — safe default
`"allow-degraded"`	Request is allowed with a degraded policy — only use when availability is more critical than strict policy enforcement

Security: "allow-degraded" should never be the default in regulated deployments. Discuss with your security team before enabling it.