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Token Factory Builder Path designed

Token Factory is the reference second product for AI Cloud. It is not an app packaged through the App SDK. It is a product surface with its own gateway, routes, usage semantics, scopes, product operations, and customer workflows.

The rule is simple:

Token Factory owns model-gateway behavior.
AI Cloud shared services own IAM, billing, policy, audit, evidence, registry, and status.

Builder Decision​

Use this path when the team is adding:

  • model endpoint routing;
  • token issuance or model gateway policy;
  • request metering, quota, or spend attribution;
  • model provider status and incident evidence;
  • product-specific controls that must still use platform IAM and billing.

Use App SDK Proof instead when the work is only packaging a launchable app runtime such as Slurm, RKE2, or Jupyter.

Product Architecture​

Required Declarations​

DeclarationMinimum content
Product idstable product id, slug, owner, lifecycle state
Resource modelendpoint, model, provider account, route, request, quota bucket
IAMscopes, roles, service-account behavior, admin and tenant operations
Billingbillable usage unit, accepted usage source, pricing snapshot owner
Policytenant/project quotas, model allowlists, rate limits, override rules
Auditprivileged mutations, gateway policy changes, provider routing changes
Evidenceusage proof, provider status, release evidence, incident handoff
Statusgateway health, provider health, partial degradation rules
Portaluser guide, developer API guide, operator runbook, security controls

API And Event Shape​

Token Factory should start contract-first. A first implementation packet should name each route and event before code changes.

Data Model Starting Point​

The exact schema can change. The ownership rule should not: product tables must not become a shadow IAM or billing ledger.

Implementation Order​

  1. Register product id, scopes, usage units, audit actions, and status components.
  2. Add OpenAPI/AsyncAPI fragments for Token Factory routes and events.
  3. Add product-owned gateway package under the product boundary.
  4. Consume shared IAM/policy/billing/evidence interfaces.
  5. Add unit and contract tests for scope, quota, usage, and audit behavior.
  6. Add UAT for user token creation, provider failure, quota exhaustion, and billing attribution.
  7. Add portal user/developer/operator pages before wider handoff.

Review Questions​

ReviewerQuestion
ProductDoes this solve a real model-access workflow, or only expose an internal gateway?
ArchitectureDoes it consume shared services without forking platform responsibilities?
SecurityAre token custody, scopes, provider credentials, audit, and redaction explicit?
OperationsCan support see gateway status, provider degradation, and usage evidence?
DeveloperCan a builder implement the first slice from contracts and package anchors?

Exit Criteria​

Token Factory is ready for implementation only when:

  • product and platform boundaries are named;
  • contracts exist before handlers;
  • usage and policy behavior are testable without live production providers;
  • security can review token and provider credential posture;
  • operations has readback and incident surfaces;
  • the docs portal has user, developer, operator, architecture, and security routes for the product.
Canonical sources