# Control plane

The control plane is the Union.ai-hosted component that orchestrates task execution, manages user access, and provides the web interface. It runs on AWS infrastructure managed by Union.ai and is covered by Union.ai's SOC 2 Type II certification.

## What it does and does not store

The control plane stores the information required for orchestration:

- **Orchestration metadata**: Identifiers, action state (phase, timestamps, cluster assignment), user profiles, and scheduling configuration.
- **Task and run definitions**: Each run submission includes a full TaskSpec (container image, typed interface, resource requirements, security context) and a RunSpec (environment variables, labels, annotations). Trigger specs carry default input values for scheduled runs.
- **Error and event information**: Error messages from task executions (which may contain customer data from Python tracebacks), Kubernetes event messages, and per-attempt plugin state.

The control plane does not store:

- **Bulk customer data payloads**: When it references such data it stores only URIs pointing to objects in the customer's object store (for example, `s3://customer-bucket/org/project/domain/run/action/output.pb`).

For the full classification of what is and isn't stored in the control plane, the sensitive fields that may appear in task definitions, and how inline data (structured I/O, secret values during creation, log streams) transits control plane memory without being persisted, see [Data classification and residency](https://www.union.ai/docs/v2/union/security/architecture/data-protection/classification-and-residency).

## Infrastructure

The control plane runs on AWS with multi-AZ redundancy to ensure high availability. It uses managed cloud database services for orchestration metadata, task/run definitions, execution events, and error messages. All backends are encrypted at rest and isolated within a VPC with restricted security groups that permit access only from control plane application services. See [Encryption](https://www.union.ai/docs/v2/union/security/architecture/data-protection/encryption) for at-rest encryption details by data type.

TLS terminates at the edge, and all internal communication occurs over encrypted channels. Automated backups run on a defined schedule with point-in-time recovery capability. Union.ai maintains disaster recovery procedures and applies security patches on a regular cadence. The SOC 2 Type II report covers the availability, security, and operational controls of this infrastructure.

## Capabilities

The control plane exposes the following capabilities:

- **API and UI gateway** -- an authenticated HTTPS API and web console for users, the SDK, and the CLI. All requests are subject to authentication and RBAC enforcement before any orchestration logic runs.
- **Scheduling and execution tracking** -- schedules TaskActions across registered data plane clusters and records execution state (phase transitions, timestamps, errors) reported back from the data plane.
- **Cluster registry** -- maintains the inventory of registered data plane clusters and their health, and routes orchestration traffic accordingly.
- **Data gateway** -- proxies structured task inputs and outputs between clients and the data plane object store, streams execution logs from the data plane to clients, and brokers presigned URL signing requests for bulk data access. See [Data flow](https://www.union.ai/docs/v2/union/security/architecture/data-protection/data-flow) for what these pathways carry and how data is handled in transit.

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**Source**: https://github.com/unionai/unionai-docs/blob/main/content/security/architecture/control-plane.md
**HTML**: https://www.union.ai/docs/v2/union/security/architecture/control-plane/