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Safety + Governance for Runtime Plugin Loading

Pitch

Enable runtime plugin loading while enforcing strict safety, permissioning, and auditability, so new capabilities can be introduced without destabilizing the system or violating trust boundaries.

Why

PlanExe benefits from extensible plugins, but runtime loading introduces risks:

  • untrusted code execution
  • data leakage or misuse
  • inconsistent behavior across environments

A formal governance layer is required before runtime plugin activation can be safe.

Problem

  • No standardized trust model for plugins.
  • No consistent permissioning or sandbox enforcement.
  • Limited audit trails for plugin behavior and impact.

Proposed Solution

Implement a runtime plugin governance system that:

  1. Defines plugin trust tiers and permissions.
  2. Enforces sandboxing and execution constraints.
  3. Logs plugin activity for audit and rollback.
  4. Provides kill-switches and quarantine for unsafe plugins.

Trust Tiers

  • Tier 0: Core built-in plugins (fully trusted).
  • Tier 1: Signed and vetted plugins (trusted but sandboxed).
  • Tier 2: Unverified plugins (restricted capabilities, limited data access).

Permission Model

Each plugin declares required permissions:

  • File system access
  • Network access
  • External API calls
  • Sensitive data access

Permissions must be approved before runtime activation.

Runtime Safeguards

  • Execution time limits
  • Memory and resource quotas
  • Output validation and schema checks
  • Continuous monitoring for anomalies

Audit and Governance

  • Every plugin execution logged with inputs and outputs.
  • Versioned plugin registry with history of approvals.
  • Quarantine workflow for suspicious behavior.

Output Schema

{
  "plugin_id": "plug_771",
  "tier": "Tier 1",
  "permissions": ["network", "file_read"],
  "execution_limit_ms": 5000,
  "audit_log": "log_4001"
}

Integration Points

  • Linked to plugin discovery and ranking hub.
  • Works with plugin benchmarking harness for safety testing.
  • Required for any runtime plugin activation.

Success Metrics

  • Zero critical incidents from runtime plugins.
  • % plugins passing safety certification.
  • Mean time to quarantine unsafe plugin behavior.

Risks

  • Overly strict controls slow innovation.
  • False positives in anomaly detection.
  • Trust tier inflation without proper review.

Future Enhancements

  • Automated static and dynamic code analysis.
  • Third-party certification authority.
  • Differential permissioning by plan sensitivity.

Detailed Implementation Plan

Phase A — Policy Engine

  1. Define trust tiers and stage-level allow policies.
  2. Enforce signature/checksum/provenance validation.
  3. Add resource limits and execution sandbox constraints.

Phase B — Runtime Gatekeeper

  1. Insert pre-execution gate in plugin load path.
  2. Deny execution when policy mismatch detected.
  3. Log all deny/allow decisions with reasons.

Phase C — Incident and Lifecycle Controls

  1. Implement kill switch per plugin/version.
  2. Add quarantine mode for newly synthesized plugins.
  3. Add security revalidation triggers on dependency updates.

Validation Checklist

  • Unsafe plugin load block rate
  • Incident containment response time
  • Provenance completeness in audit logs