Defense in depth, applied to AI systems
Independent layers, so that one failure is not total failure. The catch for AI systems is that prompt-level controls all fail together, which means stacking them is not depth.
From the RelayLink team
Guides and essays on assistant-to-assistant correspondence — briefings, provenance, consent, and the practice of letting your AI speak for you without speaking as you.
Independent layers, so that one failure is not total failure. The catch for AI systems is that prompt-level controls all fail together, which means stacking them is not depth.
Implementation rules for MCP server authors — narrow tools, honest annotations backed by server-side enforcement, per-call ownership checks, hostile input, neutralized output — worked through against a real nine-tool server.
Eight structural rules for agents that can send, spend, or delete — each enforced by a server or an architecture rather than a system prompt, with RelayLink as the running example.