SECURITY

Built so your secrets stay secret.

Nova runs autonomously with broad capability — so it's engineered from the ground up to contain blast radius, isolate credentials, and prove what it did.

Self-hosted · Single-tenant · OAuth-based access

ARCHITECTURE

Isolation at every layer

The model receives results — never the secrets used to fetch them. Every trust boundary is its own layer.

Credential isolation

API tokens and OAuth credentials live inside separate MCP processes. The model receives results only — never the secrets used to fetch them.

Path validation

Every file operation resolves through realpath and a sensitive-path deny-list, blocking symlink escapes and access to keys, .env files, and credentials.

Locked network surface

Health and webhook servers bind to loopback only; the optional desktop API is reachable solely over a private Tailscale network. No public 0.0.0.0 listener exists.

Authenticated MCP

Internal tool servers require independently rotatable bearer tokens, and every request body is size-capped to resist abuse.

Verified webhooks

Inbound webhooks are HMAC-verified (GitHub, Linear, generic) and rate-limited per hook before any agent run begins.

Subprocess sandbox

Each session's tools run in an isolated subprocess, reaped by process group so nothing lingers.

DATA

You can see everything Nova does

Every action is on record. No hidden state, no silent deletes, no long-lived static secrets.

Append-only audit log

Every tool call, job run, and error is written to an append-only log with inputs, outputs, and duration. Nothing is silently deleted.

OAuth-based access

No long-lived API keys sit in the runtime. Access flows through OAuth with scoped, rotatable credentials.

Kill-phrase shutdown

A configurable kill phrase triggers an immediate, graceful shutdown with an ops alert — a hard stop you control.

Single-tenant isolation

One instance serves one operator. There is no shared multi-tenant data surface and no cross-customer access.

RELIABILITY

Always on, never abrupt

Operations stay up while the runtime restarts, self-heals, or responds to shutdown signals.

Drain-safe deploys

In-flight turns finish before any restart — up to a full drain window — with a hard-kill backstop.

Live health checks

Health reflects real liveness: channel connections, database, and a warm runtime — not just config flags.

Self-hosted, single binary

The full runtime — compute, database, and tool servers — runs on one host you control.

Nova Private Cloud

Beta

Run the entire runtime inside your own VPC with zero data egress — single-tenant, your keys, your network. This is where hard data-residency, BAA, and certification commitments live.

COMPLIANCE

Posture, stated plainly

We hold no certifications today. Here's exactly how Nova is built relative to common frameworks — and what comes with Private Cloud.

SOC 2 & ISO 27001

Built to meet SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 controls. Formal certification is on the roadmap with Nova Private Cloud.

Readiness posture

GDPR-ready

Single-tenant design, full data control, and an append-only audit trail support GDPR obligations.

Readiness posture

HIPAA-aligned architecture

Credential isolation and access controls designed with sensitive workloads in mind. BAA available with Private Cloud (Beta).

Readiness posture

ISO 42001-aware governance

Every model action is traced and logged, supporting AI-governance review.

Readiness posture

OAuth-based authentication

No static API keys in the runtime; scoped, rotatable OAuth credentials throughout.

Readiness posture

Single-tenant isolation

Architecturally one operator per instance — no shared surface to misconfigure.

Readiness posture

Ready to put an autonomous agent to work — safely?

Tell us about your stack and what you need to keep secure. We'll show you exactly how Nova runs — and how it's contained.

Self-hosted · Single-tenant · OAuth-based access