Enrich the base extension docs so the early review history is preserved rather than erased by the narrow first cut: - trust-annotations.mdx: add a normative subsection distinguishing result-level untrusted from tool-definition openWorldHint (the SEP-1913 #711 distinction). - open-questions.md: capture the sensitivity-field shape debate, enforcement-vs- advisory risk, per-block byte ranges, taint persistence, and sequence-shape, each attributed to the reviewer who raised it; add a Naming (under review) section for the contested field/extension names. - related-work.md: add verified FIDES alternatives (Permissive IFC 2410.03055, AirGapAgent 2405.05175, CaMeL 2503.18813) and a schemes-vs-host-architectures distinction. - decisions.md: log the scheme/architecture boundary and the feedback-capture decision. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
98 lines
6.1 KiB
Markdown
98 lines
6.1 KiB
Markdown
# Open questions
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Tracked here rather than in the spec drafts, so the drafts stay non-temporal.
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## Cross-cutting
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- **Where does the policy-enforcement engine live** across different user
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universes (cross-org, cross-domain)? Engines work well within one universe;
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cross-domain is the hard case. (IG 2026-05-28.)
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- **Cross-domain integrity verification** — is asymmetric crypto for domain
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identity in scope for a future extension, or out of scope entirely? CLI tools
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remain a persistent gap for enforcing these constraints.
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- **`evidenceRef.type` registry** — who curates the list of well-known profile
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types, and how do we coordinate with attestation SEPs (e.g. SEP-2787) so
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values don't collide?
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## trust-annotations
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- **Shape of the sensitivity signal.** Is `sensitive: boolean` the right single
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coarse signal, or does the narrow cut overcorrect? The SEP-1913 thread rejected
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a linear `sensitiveHint: low|medium|high` because sensitivity is set-theoretic,
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not a scale ([@JustinCappos](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol/issues/711#issuecomment-2967516811):
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medical results to a mail MCP *and* a card number to a payment MCP, but neither
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crossed). Reviewers then pushed for org-defined vocabularies
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([@olaservo](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol/issues/711#issuecomment-2968743154),
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[@Mossaka](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol/issues/711#issuecomment-2971788308))
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and a class+regulatory pairing such as `confidential:hipaa`
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([@krubenok](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol/pull/1913#discussion_r3103485194)).
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Against that, [@localden](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol/pull/1913#issuecomment-4037623595)
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warned a baked-in taxonomy is hard to remove. Open: keep the boolean and let
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the [`data-class.v1` scheme](../schemes/data-class.md) carry the taxonomy, or
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also expose a structured escape hatch on the wire so regulated flows are
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expressible without a scheme?
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- **Enforcement vs. advisory.** A self-declared `sensitive: true` from a
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poorly-configured or malicious server could create a false sense of security
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([@localden](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol/pull/1913#issuecomment-4037623595)).
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[docs/trust-model.md](./trust-model.md) puts verification in registries; is
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that enough without a normative client-side check path?
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- Content-block-level vs. result-level attachment — does the draft need a
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worked multi-result example before it's implementable? Per-block annotation
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with **byte/codepoint ranges** was requested so clients can highlight the
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flagged span, not just the whole result
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([@connor4312](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol/pull/1913#issuecomment-3849207989)).
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- `list_changed`: confirmed response-level annotations don't participate; revisit
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only if trust vocabulary ever attaches to tool definitions.
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## Naming (under review)
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These are explicitly unsettled and are being reviewed against the SEP-1913
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record before any rename lands:
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- **Umbrella name.** The original SEP was "Trust *& Sensitivity* Annotations" —
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two axes (integrity *and* confidentiality). `trust-annotations` reads as the
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integrity half; does the name hide the `sensitive` (confidentiality) half?
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- **`untrusted` vs `openWorldHint`.** Same concept, different layer (result vs.
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tool definition). Share a name/vocabulary, or keep them deliberately distinct?
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- **`evidenceRef.type` vs `evidenceRef.scheme`.** The repo calls these values
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"schemes" (`schemes/`); the selector field is `type`. Align the field name?
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- **`evidenceRef` itself.** Its ancestor is [@pshkv](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol/pull/1913#issuecomment-4196867926)'s
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`decision_ref` / `attestation_ref` / `policy_profile`. Is `evidenceRef` the
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clearest umbrella, or should the pointer name the kind of thing it references?
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## action-metadata
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- Coexistence vs. replacement of legacy `destructiveHint` / `readOnlyHint` /
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`idempotentHint` / `openWorldHint`.
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- Open strings vs. closed enums for `destination` / `source` / `sensitivity`.
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- Does `requiresReview` need a machine-readable *reason* for good client UX?
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## ifc-fides (scheme)
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- Inline `_meta.ifc` for low-friction adoption vs. always behind `evidenceRef`.
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- GitHub Enterprise `internal` repo visibility → `public`/`private` mapping
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(audience is the whole org, broader than collaborators; resolved host-side).
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- Reader-set resolution is host-side by design — confidentiality join across two
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`private` sources needs the intersection, which the opaque wire marker can't
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express. Is the 3-step host resolution enough, or do some hosts need a
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standard `evidenceRef.ref` shape to locate the originating system?
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## Parked (SEP-1913 umbrella)
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- **`maliciousActivityHint`** — killed in review on three grounds
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([@connor4312](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol/pull/1913#issuecomment-3849207989)):
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it can't be resolved before execution for dynamic tools; a boolean gives no
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UX or ranges; and clients won't trust a server's self-report of its own
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maliciousness. If it returns, it is per-`ContentBlock` with spans, driven by
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the **host's** own detection, not a server-attested boolean.
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- **Taint persistence across the store boundary** — a label must survive
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round-tripping through storage: write a card number to a file, read it back,
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and the sensitivity label must not silently disappear
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([@JustinCappos](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol/issues/711#issuecomment-2967516811)).
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This is a propagation property no single response annotation can guarantee on
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its own; it needs the taxonomy and `evidenceRef` stable first.
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- **Session-level propagation rules** — escalation semantics and the
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**sequence-shape** gap: "this was call N in a flagged sequence" has no response
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annotation surface today ([marras0914](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol/pull/1913)).
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A candidate `evidenceRef` scheme could carry a sequence assertion; tracked in
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[`schemes/README.md`](../schemes/README.md).
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