Reference architecture
A proposed architecture connecting purpose, AI management, execution, state and evidence.
#Three layers, one organization
Axiom AO — Operating System for Autonomous Organizations — proposes three cooperating layers: an execution environment, an AI management engine, and organizational software with configured behavior. The intended environment is containerized; candidate engines include Claude Code, Codex and agy. The software preserves identity, authority, work and evidence. These responsibilities remain distinct even when a small prototype runs them on one machine.
Illustrative target architecture; not a deployment command
Owner mandate
-> Organizational software and behavior
-> AI engine: Claude Code | Codex | agy
-> Containerized execution environment
Persistent state and evidence connect all layers#Separate decisions from recorded transitions
The manager chooses work and evaluates results within a mandate. Workers produce artifacts; reviewers examine them against recorded criteria. A runtime records transitions, routes messages and preserves pending obligations. It does not become a second manager merely because it schedules a wake-up. An architecture should identify exactly which component can change every mutable record, including session ownership, accepted artifacts and event acknowledgements.
#Follow one request through the system
Consider a request for a literature review. The organization records the request, authorizes a bounded task, delegates source collection, checks the resulting report and records acceptance. It then links a reply to the original request and preserves unfinished questions. If execution stops after acceptance, recovery should discover the existing report rather than create a second task. This trace is more informative than a diagram showing only model calls.
#Target architecture and current implementation
The inspected AxiomAO documentation identifies a local native-session development prototype, currently described as v0.3.0-dev. It uses Python and SQLite with native client processes. A container image and automated container deployment are not implemented in the documented profile. Containerization is a target design choice, not evidence of isolation already delivered. Likewise, this reference architecture is an Axiom AO proposal, not a universal standard for all autonomous organizations.
Sources & context
Reference edition 0.1 · 2026-10-14. Read the editorial method.