Architecture Overview

How LumenFlow's kernel, cloud, and governed surfaces fit together to enforce policy and produce evidence.

How LumenFlow is built#

LumenFlow uses a layered architecture designed around one goal: every AI action is governed, evidenced, and auditable.

The three layers#

Kernel (enforcement)#

The open-source enforcement layer that runs wherever your agents run. The kernel validates actions against policy, blocks violations, and produces structured evidence — even offline.

  • Policy engine — evaluates rules before any action executes
  • Evidence capture — records what happened, who approved it, and why
  • Local-first — works without Cloud for single-developer workflows

Cloud (control plane)#

The hosted layer that adds team-scale governance:

  • Approval routing — send risky actions to the right reviewer
  • Evidence storage — searchable, exportable audit trail
  • Team visibility — dashboards, analytics, and activity feeds
  • Connected runtimes — enroll governed external runtimes through the control-plane SDK

Governed surfaces#

Product surfaces that operate under the governance layer:

  • Sidekick — an AI assistant whose actions are governed by your workspace policies
  • Dashboard — workspace management, activity monitoring, and team coordination
  • Inference routing — managed inference or bring-your-own-key, with cost tracking

Why this matters#

This separation means you can start with the kernel for local enforcement, add Cloud when you need team governance, and trust the evidence trail because it's produced at every layer.