The Problem
Every marketplace transaction follows the same pattern: someone selling → some asset → someone buying. Yet virtually every authorization system centers permissions around users, not assets. This mismatch creates six critical failures:
- Role Explosion - 10 stakeholder types × 5 lifecycle states = 50+ roles (grows exponentially)
- Multi-Actor Chaos - No elegant way to handle 13+ people needing different permissions on the same property
- Lifecycle Blindness - Permissions don't automatically change when properties move from draft → listing → under contract → closing
- Service Context Failures - Photographers need temporary upload rights; no clean pattern exists
- Stale Permission Pandemic - 90% of permission issues are expired access that wasn't revoked
- Domain Lock-In - Every industry rebuilds the same authorization logic from scratch
Example: In real estate, a single property might have an owner, listing agent, buyer's agent, photographer, stager, inspector, appraiser, lender, title company, attorney, and multiple potential buyers—each needing different permissions that change as the transaction progresses. Traditional systems handle this with hundreds of narrowly-scoped roles or manual permission assignments.
The Solution
UACOS flips the authorization model upside down: organize permissions around assets, not users.
Core Innovation: Lifecycle-Aware Asset-Centric Authorization
Traditional: User → Roles → Permissions → Try to figure out what they can access
UACOS: Asset → Lifecycle State → Relationships → Automatic permission computation
Result: When a property goes "Under Contract," the system automatically revokes photographer upload rights and grants lender document access—zero manual intervention.
How It Works:
- Assets are the root: Every authorization query starts with "what asset?"
- Relationships define access: "Owner," "Agent," "Inspector" are relationships to the asset, not global roles
- Lifecycle controls permissions: State transitions automatically revoke/grant access
- Service contexts are temporary: Photographer gets upload rights only during media collection phase
- 9-dimensional evaluation: Role + Relationship + Lifecycle + Service Context + Domain Rules + Time + Scope + Metadata + Exclusions
- Event ledger for compliance: Every permission change is recorded with cryptographic proof
🧬 Biomimetic Foundation: Inspired by Nature's 4-Billion-Year Solution
UACOS translates biological access control into authorization architecture:
| Biological System | UACOS Equivalent | Function |
|---|---|---|
| DNA (genetic code) | Assets (properties, patients, vehicles) | The information being protected |
| Enzymes (transcription factors) | Relationships (owner, agent, doctor) | The authorized accessors |
| Proteins (gene expression) | Permissions (actions allowed) | The actual access granted |
| Cell lifecycle (differentiation) | Asset lifecycle (draft→active→closed) | Context-dependent access changes |
| Regulatory sequences | Domain rules (MLS, HIPAA, SOX) | Industry-specific access policies |
Why this matters: DNA has solved authorization for 4 billion years with zero configuration files, no role explosions, and automatic adaptation to changing contexts. UACOS applies these same principles to digital systems.
Proven Results
Real-World Implementation: Marcott Studios
Complete property transaction platform handling:
- ✅ 13+ distinct actor types (owners, agents, photographers, inspectors, etc.)
- ✅ 8 property lifecycle states with automatic transitions
- ✅ 20+ service types with temporary permission elevation
- ✅ Complete MLS compliance with automatic field-level restrictions
- ✅ Full audit trail for legal/regulatory compliance
Deployment: PostgreSQL 15 + Node.js API, tested at scale, <50ms response times
Intellectual Property Protection
Patent Status: 4 Provisional Applications Filed (November 2025)
- Patent #1: Asset-Centric Authorization System (#63/918,050)
- Patent #2: Universal Asset Fingerprint Engine (#63/918,112)
- Patent #3: Asset-Chained Event Ledger (#63/918,242)
- Patent #4: Pluggable Domain Rule Packs (#63/918,349)
Prior Art Search: Exhaustive analysis of Zanzibar, ABAC, ReBAC, blockchain, IoT systems found zero matches for biomimetic DNA-enzyme-protein authorization pattern or lifecycle-aware automatic permission computation.
What Makes This Different?
vs. Google Zanzibar / SpiceDB / Ory Keto:
- They: Relationship-based access (ReBAC) – still user-centric at root
- UACOS: Asset-centric with relationships as a dimension – fundamentally different model
- Result: UACOS handles lifecycle transitions and service contexts natively; they require extensive custom logic
vs. AWS IAM / Azure RBAC / Okta:
- They: Role-based (RBAC) with policy attachments
- UACOS: Nine-dimensional evaluation with automatic state management
- Result: UACOS eliminates 90% of stale permissions; they require manual cleanup
vs. Domain-Specific Systems (Salesforce, Epic, etc.):
- They: Built for one industry, authorization is tightly coupled
- UACOS: Universal foundation with pluggable domain rules
- Result: UACOS adapts to any industry (real estate, healthcare, automotive, art, etc.)
Universal Applications
UACOS works anywhere there are assets in motion with multiple stakeholders:
Properties through listing → offer → closing
Patient records across providers
Vehicles in sales/service/ownership
Provenance and ownership transfers
Universal Transaction Pattern: Asset enters system (draft) → prepared for market (active) → transaction initiated (pending) → transaction complete (archived) → new lifecycle begins. UACOS natively handles this pattern across all domains.
Why Now?
Three Converging Forces:
- Regulatory Pressure: GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA require "right to deletion" and complete audit trails—impossible with user-centric models
- Marketplace Explosion: Every industry is becoming multi-sided platforms with complex stakeholder permissions
- Scale Requirements: Cloud platforms need sub-100ms authorization across billions of assets
Next Steps
📄 Read Full White Paper 🎮 Try Interactive Demo
Contact: contact@uacos.dev
Organization: UACOS.dev