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agent authorization
also AI agent authorization or agentic authorization
Definition of agent authorization
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: the security policies and enforcement controls that determine which tools, data, systems, and actions an AI agent is permitted to use, often evaluating permission separately for each action during a task
- Agent authorization allowed the support bot to read a ticket but blocked it from changing the customer's billing record.
- The payment agent had a verified identity, but each transfer still required a separate authorization decision based on amount and recipient.
Origin & history
Authorization is a long-established part of identity and access management. Agent authorization gained a distinct AI meaning in 2025–2026 as autonomous agents began chaining tool calls across services and acting on behalf of users. Research, NIST project work, and an IETF Internet-Draft treated agent authentication and authorization as separate but connected problems.
Editorial references
Sources & further reading
- Accelerating the Adoption of Software and AI Agent Identity and Authorization↗ NIST National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence · 2026-02
- AI Agent Authentication and Authorization↗ IETF Datatracker · 2026-06-01
- IBM Agent Identity is now generally available: Building trust for the agentic era↗ IBM · 2026-10-26
Test yourself
Which of these is the meaning of agent authorization?
Cite this entry
"Agent authorization." AI Dictionary, Dadgogo, https://dadgogo.com/dictionary/agent-authorization/. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.