Skylv Agent Constitution Guard

Constitutional guardrails for AI agents — define immutable behavioral rules, permission boundaries, escalation policies, and safety interlocks that prevent agents from exceeding authorized scope regardless of context or pressure

agent-constitution-guard

Constitutional guardrails for AI agents — define immutable behavioral rules, permission boundaries, escalation policies, and safety interlocks that agents cannot override regardless of context or user pressure.

Skill Metadata

• Slug: agent-constitution-guard
• Version: 1.1.0
• Author: SKY-lv
• Description: Production-grade constitutional guardrails system for AI agents. Define immutable behavioral rules, multi-level permission boundaries, human escalation policies, safety interlocks, and comprehensive audit trails. Agents must obey these rules regardless of context, prompt injection, or social engineering attempts.
• Category: safety
• License: MIT
• Trigger Keywords: constitution, guardrail, permission guard, safety rule, behavioral constraint, boundary check, escalation policy, agent safety, immutable rule, compliance guard, red line, permission boundary

---

Why This Matters

AI agents with access to files, APIs, and external systems need enforceable boundaries. Without constitutional guardrails:

• An agent could delete production databases responding to a misleading prompt
• An agent could exfiltrate sensitive data to external endpoints
• An agent could spend thousands of dollars on API calls without oversight
• An agent could modify system files, breaking the host environment

This skill provides enforceable, auditable, multi-layered protection.

---

Architecture

``` ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐ │ AGENT ACTION REQUEST │ └──────────────────┬──────────────────┘ │ ▼ ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Layer 1: IMMUTABLE CHECK │ ← Cannot be overridden by anyone │ (Hard safety boundaries) │ └──────────────────┬──────────────────┘ │ PASS ▼ ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Layer 2: POLICY ENGINE │ ← Rule-based permission checks │ (Context-aware rules) │ └──────────────────┬──────────────────┘ │ PASS ▼ ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Layer 3: ESCALATION │ ← Human approval for sensitive ops │ (Owner confirmation) │ └──────────────────┬──────────────────┘ │ APPROVED ▼ ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Layer 4: AUDIT LOG │ ← Every check is recorded │ (Immutable audit trail) │ └─────────────────────────────────────┘ ```

---

Step-by-Step Usage

Step 1: Initialize Constitution

```bash node constitution.js init --name "my-agent" --owner "[e-mail]" ``` Creates .constitution/ directory with default rules and audit log.

Step 2: Add Rules

```bash

Immutable rule: never call external APIs without confirmation

node constitution.js rule add
--level immutable
--action deny
--scope "external_write"
--description "Never write to external APIs without owner confirmation"
--escalation owner

Owner-only rule: can modify workspace files

node constitution.js rule add
--level owner-only
--action allow
--scope "workspace_write"
--description "Can write files within workspace directory"

Mutable rule: can read any file

node constitution.js rule add
--level mutable
--action allow
--scope "file_read"
--description "Read any local file" ```

Step 3: Check Permissions Before Action

```javascript const guard = require('./constitution.js');

// Check if an action is allowed const decision = guard.check('external_write', { target: 'https://api.stripe.com/charges', payload: { amount: 9999 }, userId: 'user-123' });

console.log(decision); // { // allowed: false, // layer: 'immutable', // rule: 'R001', // reason: 'External write requires owner confirmation', // escalation: 'owner', // escalationMessage: 'Agent wants to POST to https://api.stripe.com/charges. Approve?' // } ```

Step 4: Handle Escalation

```javascript if (!decision.allowed && decision.escalation) { // Send escalation request to owner const approved = await guard.escalate(decision, { channel: 'webhook', // or 'email', 'slack', 'console' timeout: 300000, // 5 min timeout details: decision.escalationMessage });

if (approved) { await executeAction(); } } ```

Step 5: Review Audit Trail

```bash

View all decisions in last 24 hours

node constitution.js audit --last 24h

View only denied actions

node constitution.js audit --status denied

View audit for specific scope

node constitution.js audit --scope external_write

Export for compliance reporting

node constitution.js audit --export csv --output audit_2024_Q1.csv ```

---

Rule Levels Explained

Level	Who Can Modify	Override	Use Case
Immutable	Nobody	Never	Delete production, external network access, credential access
Owner-only	Agent owner only	Never	Deploy to production, modify billing, send emails
Mutable	Agent (within bounds)	Self-adjust	File read paths, log verbosity, cache settings
Advisory	Anyone	Always	Performance hints, optimization suggestions

---

Real-World Examples

Example 1: Production Database Protection

```json { "id": "DB-PROTECT", "level": "immutable", "action": "deny", "scope": ["database_delete", "database_drop", "database_truncate"], "description": "Never delete, drop, or truncate any production database", "conditions": { "environment": ["production", "prod"] } } ```

Example 2: Cost Control ($100/day API budget)

```json { "id": "COST-GUARD", "level": "owner-only", "action": "allow", "scope": "external_api_call", "description": "Allow external API calls within daily budget", "limits": { "maxDailyCost": 100, "maxCostPerCall": 10 }, "escalation": "owner" } ```

Example 3: Data Privacy (GDPR Compliance)

```json { "id": "GDPR-GUARD", "level": "immutable", "action": "deny", "scope": ["data_export", "data_share"], "description": "Never export or share PII data without legal approval", "conditions": { "dataTypes": ["email", "phone", "ssn", "address", "financial"] } } ```

---

Configuration Reference

```json { "constitution": { "version": "1.0", "agent": "my-agent", "owner": "[e-mail]", "defaults": { "denyAction": "block", "logLevel": "all", "escalationTimeout": 300000 }, "layers": { "immutable": { "enabled": true, "log": true }, "policy": { "enabled": true, "log": true }, "escalation": { "enabled": true, "channels": ["console"] }, "audit": { "enabled": true, "retention": "90d" } } } } ```

---

Integration Patterns

Pattern 1: Middleware for Express/Fastify

```javascript app.use(async (req, res, next) => { const decision = guard.check('external_write', { method: req.method, url: req.url }); if (!decision.allowed) return res.status(403).json(decision); next(); }); ```

Pattern 2: OpenClaw Skill Wrapper

```javascript // Before executing any tool call: const toolGuard = guard.checkForTool(toolName, toolParams); if (!toolGuard.allowed) { if (toolGuard.escalation === 'owner') { // Ask OpenClaw to prompt user for approval } return { blocked: true, reason: toolGuard.reason }; } ```

Pattern 3: CI/CD Pipeline Gate

```bash

In your deployment pipeline:

node constitution.js ci-check --env production --strict

Exit code 0 = safe to deploy, 1 = violations found

```