ThreeGate/README.md

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# ThreeGate
**ThreeGate** is a compartmentalized architecture for building **secure, local AI assistants** that perform goal-directed tasks *without* relying on autonomous agents or trusting large language models to behave safely.
ThreeGate separates **thinking**, **retrieval**, and **execution** into distinct, least-privileged components with enforced trust boundaries.
> If prompt injection is inevitable, safety must come from structure.
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## What ThreeGate Is
ThreeGate is:
- A **reference architecture** for secure local assistants
- A **defense-in-depth design** against prompt injection, tool abuse, and data exfiltration
- A **human-governed system**, not an autonomous agent
- Designed for **single-user, local operation**
- Explicitly extensible to multiple roles (research, policy analysis, data science, auditing)
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## What ThreeGate Is Not
ThreeGate is **not**:
- An autonomous agent framework
- A self-modifying system
- A browsing-and-executing AI loop
- A cloud-first or multi-tenant platform
- A system that trusts LLM outputs without validation
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## Core Insight
Most unsafe AI systems fail because they allow a single component to:
> **Read untrusted input, reason about it, and immediately act on the world.**
ThreeGate prevents this by enforcing **three independent gates**:
1. **FETCH** — retrieves untrusted external content
2. **CORE** — performs reasoning and synthesis
3. **TOOL-EXEC** — executes code, only when explicitly approved
No component crosses more than one gate.
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## High-Level Architecture
Internet
[ Managed Proxy ]
FETCH (retrieval)
Research Packets
CORE (analysis)
(optional, human-approved)
TOOL-EXEC (sandboxed execution)
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## Initial Target Role
The first concrete role implemented using ThreeGate is a:
**Secure Local Research Assistant**
Capabilities:
- Scholarly retrieval (controlled, allowlisted)
- Analysis and writing
- Optional sandboxed computation
- No autonomous browsing or execution
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## Repository Structure (Initial)
ThreeGate/
├── README.md
├── docs/
│ ├── architecture.md
│ ├── threat-model.md
│ └── why-this-is-safer.md
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## Status
This repository is in **early specification and reference implementation phase**.
The design is intentionally conservative. Convenience features are added *only* when they preserve trust boundaries.
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## License & Philosophy
ThreeGate favors:
- Explicit over implicit authority
- Structural safety over behavioral promises
- Human-in-the-loop over automation
If a feature weakens a trust boundary, it does not belong here.