Architecture

What Is Policy Engine?

A rule system that defines what an AI agent can and cannot do, with versioning, rollback, and enforcement.

In Plain English

The policy engine is the brain of agent governance. It stores rules about permitted actions, blocked operations, approval requirements, and behavioral constraints. Policies are versioned — you can roll back to a previous policy if a change causes issues.

Policies cover tool access, network permissions, file system access, and behavioral rules. The engine evaluates every agent action against the active policy before allowing execution.

Why It Matters for OpenClaw

As agent deployments grow, managing security through individual configurations becomes unmanageable. A policy engine centralizes governance, ensures consistency, and provides an audit trail of policy changes.

How Clawctl Helps

Clawctl includes a policy engine with versioning and rollback. Define rules through the dashboard or CLI. Changes are tracked and auditable. Roll back instantly if a policy change causes issues.

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Common Questions

Can I version my policies?

Yes. Every policy change creates a new version. Roll back to any previous version instantly.

What can policies control?

Tool access, network permissions, blocked actions, approval requirements, and behavioral constraints.

Can different agents have different policies?

Yes. Assign policies per agent or use a default policy with per-agent overrides.