RFC 8693, OAuth 2.0 token exchange
Published in January 2020, token exchange is the only widely deployed standard that writes down the difference between impersonation and delegation. A service can trade one token for another, and the result can record that one party is acting for another rather than pretending to be them. It is the nearest thing to an agent delegation record.
The verdict
Verified
The document exists. The ledger fetched it at its publisher and quotes it.
Key facts
What the sources say
- Record ID
- AAL-2026-0010
- Kind
- Standard or protocol
- Jurisdiction
- Global
- Last verified
- Added
- The specification defines how to request and obtain security tokens from OAuth 2.0 authorization servers, including tokens employing impersonation and delegation.
- Delegation keeps the acting party visible in the token, while impersonation erases it, and the difference decides what a downstream log can show.
- Token exchange is how a service holding a user's token obtains a narrower token for a downstream call, which is the shape of an agent calling a tool.
- It was written for services rather than agents, so nothing in it bounds how many times authority may be exchanged onward.
Dimension by dimension
3 dimensions, each one stated, silent or open
Delegation, Accountability, Limits. Stated means the document you can open below says it; silent means the ledger read the document and it does not.
- DelegationStated
- The exchange can record an acting party alongside the subject, so a downstream service can see that software acted for a person.RFC Editor, RFC 8693, primary source, 1 January 2020.
- AccountabilityStated
- Because the actor stays in the token, an audit can attribute the call to both the agent and the principal instead of only one.RFC Editor, RFC 8693, primary source, 1 January 2020.
- LimitsStated
- The exchanged token can be narrowed by audience and scope, but the specification does not require narrowing.RFC Editor, RFC 8693, primary source, 1 January 2020.
What it changes
For a team deploying an agent
If your agent calls downstream services with the same token it received, your logs cannot distinguish the agent from the user. Exchanging for a narrower token that names the agent as the actor costs one round trip and gives you an attributable trail, which is what every incident review will ask for.
Sources
What this record was verified against
- RFC Editor, RFC 8693Primary · 1 January 2020
Related
Records that sit beside this one
Agent Passport System, an IETF Internet-Draft
Global · verified 15 September 2026
The draft defines Ed25519 agent passports and separately signed principal bindings.
How does a sub agent's authority attenuate
Global · verified 15 September 2026
RFC 8693 lets a token record that one party is acting for another, but does not require the exchanged token to be narrower.
RFC 6749, the OAuth 2.0 authorization framework
Global · verified 15 September 2026
The framework enables a third party application to obtain limited access to an HTTP service on behalf of a resource owner, or on its own behalf.
Does a spending limit belong to the agent or to the principal
Global · verified 15 September 2026
The Visa Trusted Agent Protocol addresses recognising an approved agent and its intent, and does not itself carry a spending ceiling.
Can an agent hold a credential of its own
Global · verified 15 September 2026
NIST SP 800-63-4 states that for that publication, person refers only to natural persons.
Who is liable when a delegated agent exceeds its mandate
Global · verified 15 September 2026
The EU AI Act allocates duties to providers and deployers, and does not address an agent acting beyond its instructions.
Cite this record
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0, with attribution. The record ID AAL-2026-0010 is permanent and is never reused.
- In a sentence
- According to the GAGE Agent Authority Ledger (as of 15 September 2026), rfc 8693, oauth 2.0 token exchange.
- APA
- GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education). (2026). RFC 8693, OAuth 2.0 token exchange. Agent Authority Ledger. Retrieved 15 September 2026, from https://www.gage.academy/tools/agent-authority-ledger/records/AAL-2026-0010-rfc-8693-oauth-2-0-token-exchange
- MLA
- "RFC 8693, OAuth 2.0 token exchange." Agent Authority Ledger, GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education), 15 September 2026, https://www.gage.academy/tools/agent-authority-ledger/records/AAL-2026-0010-rfc-8693-oauth-2-0-token-exchange.
- Chicago
- GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education). "RFC 8693, OAuth 2.0 token exchange." Agent Authority Ledger. Last modified 15 September 2026. https://www.gage.academy/tools/agent-authority-ledger/records/AAL-2026-0010-rfc-8693-oauth-2-0-token-exchange.
- Permalink
- https://www.gage.academy/tools/agent-authority-ledger/records/AAL-2026-0010-rfc-8693-oauth-2-0-token-exchange
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