ARAL Overview v1.0

ARAL Standard Overview

Version: 1.0
Status: Release Candidate
Date: 2026-01-14

---

1. Introduction

ARAL (Agent Reference Architecture Layers) is an open standard defining a layered architecture for AI agents. It provides clear separation of concerns, security by design, and interoperability patterns.

1.1 Goals

• Modularity: Each layer has distinct responsibilities
• Security: Defense in depth, least privilege
• Interoperability: Standard protocols and schemas
• Auditability: Full traceability of decisions

1.2 Non-Goals

• Prescribing specific AI/ML technologies
• Mandating particular programming languages
• Defining business logic or domain models

2. Architecture

2.1 Layer Model

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  L7  PROTOCOL        External interoperability              │
│                      MCP, A2A, REST, gRPC                   │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  L6  ORCHESTRATION   Multi-agent coordination               │
│                      Routing, load balancing, circuit break │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  L5  PERSONA         Agent identity and contract            │
│                      Name, role, constraints, signature     │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  L4  REASONING       Decision and inference                 │
│                      LLM, rules, planning                   │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  L3  CAPABILITIES    Available actions                      │
│                      Tools, APIs, functions                 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  L2  MEMORY          State and context                      │
│                      Short-term, long-term, episodic        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  L1  RUNTIME         Execution environment                  │
│                      Resources, lifecycle, monitoring       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

2.2 Invariants

ID	Invariant
ARAL-INV-001	Each layer has strictly defined responsibilities
ARAL-INV-002	Lower layers MUST NOT depend on higher layers
ARAL-INV-003	All inter-layer communication uses the Envelope format
ARAL-INV-004	L4 accesses L1-L3 in read/invoke mode only
ARAL-INV-005	All state changes are auditable

2.3 Data Flow

External Request
       │
       ▼
┌──────────────┐
│  L7 Protocol │ ─── Validate, transform
└──────┬───────┘
       │
       ▼
┌──────────────┐
│L6 Orchestrate│ ─── Route, authorize
└──────┬───────┘
       │
       ▼
┌──────────────┐
│  L5 Persona  │ ─── Apply constraints
└──────┬───────┘
       │
       ▼
┌──────────────┐
│ L4 Reasoning │ ─── Decide action
└──────┬───────┘
       │
       ▼
┌──────────────┐
│L3 Capability │ ─── Execute action
└──────┬───────┘
       │
       ▼
┌──────────────┐
│  L2 Memory   │ ─── Update state
└──────┬───────┘
       │
       ▼
┌──────────────┐
│  L1 Runtime  │ ─── Manage resources
└──────────────┘

3. Conformance Profiles

Profile	Layers	Requirements	Use Case
ARAL-CORE	L1-L5	68	Standalone agent
ARAL-ORCH	L1-L6	94	Multi-agent systems
ARAL-INTEROP	L1-L7	161	Cross-system integration

4. Document Map

Document	Content
ARAL-CORE	Layers L1-L5 specification
ARAL-PROTOCOL	Layers L6-L7 specification
ARAL-SECURITY	Security requirements
ARAL-CONFORMANCE	Certification profiles
ARAL-INTEGRATION	External compatibility
ARAL-EXAMPLES	Use cases
ARAL-GLOSSARY	Terminology

5. Normative Language

This specification uses RFC 2119 keywords:

• MUST / REQUIRED: Absolute requirement
• SHOULD / RECOMMENDED: May be ignored with valid reason
• MAY / OPTIONAL: Truly optional

6. Versioning

ARAL follows Semantic Versioning:

• MAJOR: Breaking changes
• MINOR: Backward-compatible additions
• PATCH: Clarifications, typos

---

References

• RFC 2119 - Key words
• JSON Schema - Validation
• OpenTelemetry - Observability

---

© 2026 IbIFACE — CC BY 4.0