Architecture Overview

Architecture Overview

Sestra is built as a lightweight access middleware with clear boundaries. It evaluates verification results, issues short-lived sessions, and informs your backend through events.

Sestra does not store identity, does not process funds, and does not execute workloads. Its only job is access decision-making.

System Roles

Client (User / Agent / Service) Requests access to your protected API endpoint.

Provider Backend (Your API) Owns the protected endpoints. Integrates Sestra via SDK/API and receives webhook events.

Sestra Core Creates sessions, validates verification signals, enforces privacy rules, and dispatches events.

External Verification Systems Systems that produce verification signals (e.g., payment receipts, attestations). Sestra verifies the result, not the underlying data.

Control Plane vs Runtime Plane

Control Plane (Developer Console)

Used to configure:

• policies (requirements, TTL, allowances)

• webhook endpoints

• access settings and environments

Runtime Plane (Session + Verification)

Used during real traffic:

• create session

• verify fulfillment signal

• grant access session

• expire session automatically

Data Minimization Model

Sestra stores only what is necessary to operate safely:

• session identifiers

• timestamps

• status

• hashed metadata (optional)

Sestra does not store:

• identity

• wallet addresses

• network identifiers (IP)

• raw verification artifacts

• behavioral analytics

Runtime Flow (Short)

1. Client requests a protected endpoint

2. Backend requests a session from Sestra

3. Backend returns "verification required" to client

4. Client fulfills requirement externally

5. Sestra verifies fulfillment and grants a temporary session

6. Backend allows access while session is valid

7. Session expires automatically