The Agent Operating System (AOS): Layer Definitions and Control Plane Specification
Ankur Sharma and Deep Shah
AOS-0002 · 66 pages · Published on AOS Core: September 29, 2026
Abstract
The Agent Operating System (AOS) reference architecture requires stable boundaries between semantic control, runtime execution, system services, and infrastructure. Without those boundaries, agent frameworks are described as operating systems, workflow engines are confused with control planes, infrastructure schedulers are treated as agent runtimes, and governance is added as an after-the-fact filter rather than an operating responsibility. This specification defines a four-layer reference stack for distributed agentic systems: Layer 1, the Control Plane; Layer 2, the Runtime Plane; Layer 3, the System Services Plane; and Layer 4, the Infrastructure Plane. It preserves the AOS-0001 constitutional boundary: Layers 1 and 2 are internal AOS planes, while Layers 3 and 4 are external dependency planes that AOS consumes through explicit interfaces. The specification then defines the complete functional contract of Layer 1, including Intent Management, Capability Discovery, Policy and Trust Governance, Confidence Management, Orchestration Guidance, Auditability, and Observability. For each function it specifies inputs, outputs, data ownership, lifecycle, failure handling, and interaction with runtime execution. The Control Plane governs and coordinates; it does not execute workflows, host inference, manage processes, or own infrastructure. The resulting definitions provide shared terminology, a classification method for existing technologies, and conformance criteria for implementations that claim AOS compatibility.
Suggested citation
Ankur Sharma and Deep Shah. The Agent Operating System (AOS): Layer Definitions and Control Plane Specification. AOS-0002, AOS Specification Series, 2026. aoscore.org/publications/aos-0002/
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