Execution Kernel

The Execution Kernel is a consensus-critical, deterministic agent execution framework for RISC Zero zkVM. It enables verifiable DeFi AI agents that make capital allocation decisions with cryptographic proof of correct execution.

What is the Execution Kernel?

The Execution Kernel defines what constitutes a valid agent execution through zero-knowledge proofs. Capital is held in on-chain vaults that delegate decision-making to agents—programs that analyze market conditions and produce actions like deposits, withdrawals, or trades.

The kernel acts as a verifiable sandbox: an agent runs inside the kernel, which runs inside a zkVM. The zkVM produces a proof that:

• The agent executed correctly according to its own code
• The kernel enforced all protocol constraints
• The resulting actions are exactly what the agent decided

Key Features

Agent-Agnostic Design

The kernel uses trait-based dependency injection, allowing new agents without modifying kernel code:

pub trait AgentEntrypoint {
    fn code_hash(&self) -> [u8; 32];
    fn run(&self, ctx: &AgentContext, opaque_inputs: &[u8]) -> AgentOutput;
}

// Execute kernel with any agent
let journal = kernel_main_with_agent(&input_bytes, &MyAgent)?;

Cryptographic Commitments

Every execution produces a journal containing:

• Input commitment: SHA-256 hash of all inputs
• Action commitment: SHA-256 hash of all outputs
• Execution status: Success or Failure

Constraint Enforcement

The constraint engine validates agent outputs against safety rules:

• Position size limits
• Leverage bounds
• Asset whitelists
• Cooldown periods

Protocol Constants

Constant	Value	Description
PROTOCOL_VERSION	1	Wire format version
KERNEL_VERSION	1	Kernel semantics version
MAX_AGENT_INPUT_BYTES	64,000	Maximum input size
MAX_ACTIONS_PER_OUTPUT	64	Maximum actions per execution
MAX_ACTION_PAYLOAD_BYTES	16,384	Maximum payload per action
HASH_FUNCTION	SHA-256	Commitment hash function

On-Chain Deployment (Sepolia)

Contract	Address
KernelExecutionVerifier	0x9Ef5bAB590AFdE8036D57b89ccD2947D4E3b1EFA
KernelVault	0xAdeDA97D2D07C7f2e332fD58F40Eb4f7F0192be7
MockYieldSource	0x7B35E3F2e810170f146d31b00262b9D7138F9b39
RISC Zero Verifier Router	0x925d8331ddc0a1F0d96E68CF073DFE1d92b69187

Quick Start

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Defiesta/execution-kernel.git
cd execution-kernel

# Run tests
cargo test

# Build with zkVM support
cargo build --release --features risc0

Next Steps

• Architecture Overview - Understand the system design
• Prerequisites - Set up your development environment
• Writing an Agent - Build your first agent