/guardrails

name: guardrails
description: "Show guardrails status, switch modes, set token cap, or view the audit log. Usage: /guardrails [status|log|strict|relaxed|audit|reset|policy|tokencap]"

Show the current guardrails status and provide mode controls.

Mode config file

Modes are persisted to `guardrails-mode.json` in the project root (`CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR`). Read this file at the start of any command to determine the current mode. Write to it when mode changes. This file survives context resets and new sessions.

Schema:

{
  "mode": "full-gate",
  "audit_only": false,
  "token_cap": null,
  "set_at": "<ISO 8601 timestamp>",
  "set_by": "user"
}

Valid `mode` values: `"full-gate"` (default), `"strict"`, `"relaxed"`. `audit_only: true` overrides tier controls — T2/T3 auto-proceed with logging, T4 halts without executing. `token_cap`: integer or null. When set to an integer, actions whose estimated payload exceeds this token count pause for approval (T3 gate). When null or absent, the token cap is inactive.

Commands

If the user typed `/guardrails` with no argument or `/guardrails status`:

• Read `guardrails-mode.json` (if it exists) to get persisted mode; otherwise assume full-gate
• Show the current guardrails mode (full-gate, strict, relaxed, audit-only)
• Show tier distribution for this session (how many T2, T3, T4 actions gated)
• Show approval/denial counts
• Show whether any pre-approved patterns are active
• Show token cap setting: if token_cap is set in the config, show "Token cap: <N> tokens"; otherwise "Token cap: not set"

If the user typed `/guardrails log`:

• Read and display the last 20 entries from `guardrails_log.md` in the project root
• If no log exists, say "No guardrails log found. The log is created on the first gated action."

If the user typed `/guardrails strict`:

• Write `{"mode": "strict", "audit_only": false, "set_at": "<now ISO 8601>", "set_by": "user"}` to `guardrails-mode.json` in the project root
• Confirm: "🛡️ Strict mode saved. All tiers escalated by +1. Persists across sessions until changed."

If the user typed `/guardrails relaxed`:

• Write `{"mode": "relaxed", "audit_only": false, "set_at": "<now ISO 8601>", "set_by": "user"}` to `guardrails-mode.json` in the project root
• Confirm: "🛡️ Relaxed mode saved. Tier 2 actions will skip the gate. Persists across sessions until changed."

If the user typed `/guardrails audit`:

• Write `{"mode": "full-gate", "audit_only": true, "set_at": "<now ISO 8601>", "set_by": "user"}` to `guardrails-mode.json` in the project root
• Confirm: "🛡️ Audit-only mode saved. T2/T3 actions auto-proceed and are logged. T4 actions are halted. Use this for CI or unattended runs."

If the user typed `/guardrails reset`:

• Write `{"mode": "full-gate", "audit_only": false, "set_at": "<now ISO 8601>", "set_by": "user"}` to `guardrails-mode.json` in the project root
• Confirm: "🛡️ Guardrails reset to full-gate mode."

If the user typed `/guardrails policy`:

• Read and display the hard constraints from POLICY.md in the skill directory

If the user typed `/guardrails tokencap <number>`:

• Read the existing `guardrails-mode.json` (if it exists) to preserve current mode and audit_only settings
• Add or update the `token_cap` field with the integer value
• Write the updated config to `guardrails-mode.json` in the project root
• Confirm: "🛡️ Token cap set to <number> tokens. Actions exceeding this will pause for approval. Persists across sessions until changed."

If the user typed `/guardrails tokencap off`:

• Read the existing `guardrails-mode.json` (if it exists) to preserve current mode settings
• Set `token_cap` to null
• Write the updated config to `guardrails-mode.json`
• Confirm: "🛡️ Token cap disabled."

If the user typed `/guardrails tokencap` (no argument):

• Read `guardrails-mode.json` and show the current token cap value
• If not set or null: "Token cap: not set (all actions proceed regardless of size)"
• If set: "Token cap: <number> tokens. Actions exceeding this pause for approval."