Built to survive a security review
Absorb reduces what an agent can reach, so the product has to hold up to the same scrutiny. This page covers architecture, data handling, supply chain and process, and is the basis of the documentation package supplied during evaluation.
- Your API data sent to us
- Never
- Telemetry or license server
- None
- Runs with egress blocked
- Yes
- Third-party dependencies
- 1, a YAML parser
- Model in the request path
- None, deterministic
- ISO 27001 and SOC 2
- In progress
Architecture and data flow
Delivered as software, not a service. It runs as a pod sidecar, a service behind your gateway or a binary on a virtual machine, always inside your network.
- Secret managerCredentials read at startup and reload
- Identity providerOIDC signing keys, optional
- Approval channelSlack, ServiceNow, webhook, optional
- Audit collectorSIEM export, signed, optional
- Secret managerenv var or mounted file
- Absorbin memory only
- Upstream requestheader, query or OAuth
Controls the product enforces
Least privilege by construction
Only operations named in the policy are emitted. Denials win over permissions, and writes must be named, never matched by a wildcard.
Response minimization
Responses are cut to listed fields, undocumented attributes are removed by default, and a size limit applies per tool, before any model sees the data.
Credential isolation
Upstream credentials are applied at the boundary from your secret manager. Agents hold only their own identity.
Agent identity
Issued tokens are stored as SHA-256 hashes and compared in constant time. OIDC tokens are checked for signature, issuer, audience, expiry and required claims.
Authorization workflow
Sensitive writes are held before they reach your API and released only on a human decision, recorded with approver, channel and arguments.
Argument validation
Arguments are validated against the schema before a request is issued. Policy conditions can bound values or pin an identifier to a verified token claim.
Audit and detection
Every call produces a structured record, including fields removed and drift from the specification, exportable to your SIEM with signed delivery.
Approvals and audit in practice
A held write waits with its exact arguments until an administrator decides. Every call, decision and approver is recorded.
Data handling
Where each kind of data lives while Absorb runs.
| Data | Held in memory | Written to disk | Sent to Absorb.dev | What it contains |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer API data | Per call | No | Never | Response bodies pass through and are filtered. None are stored or logged. |
| Audit records | Buffered | Your audit file or SIEM | Never | Agent, operation, decision, status, byte counts, argument names, timings. No argument values or bodies. |
| Approval records | Until decided | No | Never | The arguments an approver needs, removed after a retention window. |
| Secrets | From startup | No | Never | Resolved from environment or mounted files. Never in logs, errors or audit output. |
| Log output | Streamed | Standard error only | Never | Structured text or JSON. No credentials, no response content. |
Personal data: Absorb processes whatever your APIs return. Field-level filtering is how you keep regulated attributes out of model context entirely.
Supply chain and build integrity
- Dependencies limited to the Go standard library and one YAML parser. No agent framework, model client or telemetry library.
- Single static binary or distroless image, running as non-root with a read-only filesystem and all capabilities dropped.
- Images carry no shell and no package manager.
- Releases reproducible from a tagged revision, with checksums for every artifact and version information in the binary.
- Enterprise agreements include a source exhibit and escrow, without public disclosure.
Operational guidance
- Terminate TLS in front of Absorb or configure certificates directly. It refuses to serve on a non-loopback address without agent authentication unless deliberately overridden.
- Issue one credential per agent so audit records attribute activity, and rotate by reloading configuration.
- Keep the admin interface on an internal network or behind an authenticating proxy, with a token per administrator.
- Run the drift probe in your pipeline so a spec that no longer matches production fails before agents hit it.
- Export audit records to your SIEM and alert on refusals, approval outcomes and drift counters.
Governance and assurance
- ISO 27001Certification in progress
- SOC 2Certification in progress
- Documentation packageArchitecture, data flow, control mapping, hardening, dependency inventory
- DPAIncluded with every edition
- Vulnerability disclosureAcknowledged in 2 business days, assessed in 5
Questionnaires
We complete customer security questionnaires and support architecture review sessions as part of an Enterprise engagement.
Reduced attack surface
One agent endpoint, an optional admin interface and a health check. No user-generated content, no database, no multi-tenancy.
Advisories
Customers under support receive advisories for issues affecting a supported release, with the fixed version and any interim mitigation.
Report vulnerabilities to [email protected]. A disclosure timeline is agreed with the reporter.
Questions from security functions
Does Absorb receive any of our data?
No. Absorb is software you deploy inside your own environment. Requests travel from your agent to Absorb to your API and back. The product makes no outbound connection to us, contains no telemetry and requires no license server, so it continues to operate with all external network access blocked.
What is in the request path?
The Absorb binary and nothing else. There is no model, no third-party service and no hosted component between an agent and your API. Compilation is deterministic, so the same specification and policy always produce the same tool surface.
How are upstream credentials handled?
Credentials are resolved at startup, and on reload, from environment variables or mounted files supplied by your secret manager. They are never written in the policy, never included in a tool schema, never returned to an agent and never recorded in audit output.
How do you handle vulnerability reports?
Send them to [email protected]. We acknowledge within two business days, provide an assessment within five, and agree on a disclosure timeline with the reporter. Customers under support receive advisories for any issue affecting a supported release.
Which certifications do you hold?
ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certification are in progress. Because Absorb runs inside your environment and we never receive your data, the assurance that matters most during evaluation is the architecture itself, and we supply the documentation package, control mapping and an architecture review session to support that assessment.
Can we review the source?
Enterprise agreements include a source exhibit and escrow arrangement. Source is made available under the terms of that agreement rather than published, so customers can satisfy review and continuity requirements without the code being public.
Evaluate it under your own controls
Production binary in your environment, under a mutual NDA, with unlimited non-production use and the documentation package your security team needs.