> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.uptiq.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.uptiq.ai/agent-builder/deploy/guardrails.md).
# Guardrails
Guardrails are the safety controls that protect your agent at every stage of a run — masking sensitive data before it reaches the model, pausing risky tool calls for human approval, and holding the agent to an approved set of language models. Find them at **Manage Agent → Guardrails**, under *Cognition & Control*.
{% hint style="info" %}
**Preview.** Guardrails is a Preview feature — controls and labels may change.
{% endhint %}
### Configure guardrails
Use these pages to configure the guardrails that you manage per agent:
* [PII masking](/agent-builder/deploy/guardrails/pii-masking.md) — choose a detection provider, entity rules, and tokenization coverage.
* [Tool execution approval](/agent-builder/deploy/guardrails/tool-execution.md) — require a user’s approval before selected skills run.
## How guardrails work
Open the page from **Manage Agent → Guardrails**. You'll see a single list of guardrails, each with a **Name**, a **Type**, and a **Status**. The header summarizes the set — for example, *"4 guardrails · 2 enforced by the AI Gateway."*
The Guardrails page, listing all four guardrails.
The Status column holds two kinds of control:
* **Toggle** — you turn the guardrail on or off for this agent. *Sensitive Data Masking* and *Tool Execution Approval* work this way.
* **Always enforced** — the guardrail is locked on and can't be turned off here. *Allowed LLM Families* and *Allowed LLM Providers* work this way; they're enforced centrally by the [AI Gateway](broken://pages/f9807c2d93040f74c9d10dbfd2388b57f0702dc6#ai-gateway) — the platform layer every model request passes through — and set by your organization, not per agent.
To change what a toggleable guardrail covers, use the **gear** at the end of its row. That opens the guardrail's own configuration screen — the entity list for masking, or the skills list for tool approval.
| Guardrail | Type | Configurable here? |
| ----------------------- | ----------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| Sensitive Data Masking | `Pii Masking` | Yes — toggle + gear |
| Tool Execution Approval | `Tool Permission` | Yes — toggle + gear |
| Allowed LLM Families | `Model Policy` | No — always enforced by the AI Gateway |
| Allowed LLM Providers | `Model Policy` | No — always enforced by the AI Gateway |
## Model policy guardrails
*Allowed LLM Families* and *Allowed LLM Providers* are both `Model Policy` guardrails. They show as **Always enforced** — locked on and applied by the [AI Gateway](broken://pages/f9807c2d93040f74c9d10dbfd2388b57f0702dc6#ai-gateway) to every model request, so they can't be toggled off per agent. The approved sets are configured by your organization in the AI Gateway, not on this page.
### Allowed LLM Families
Restricts the agent to an approved set of model *families* — a family is a group of related models (for example, GPT or Claude). The agent can only use models from families your organization has approved.
### Allowed LLM Providers
Restricts the agent to an approved set of *providers* — the vendors that host the models (for example, OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, or Azure OpenAI). The agent can only route requests to providers your organization has approved.
## Guardrails page controls
UI inventory — the Guardrails page
| Element | Description | When to use it |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Header summary | Count of guardrails and how many are gateway-enforced (e.g. *"4 guardrails · 2 enforced by the AI Gateway"*) | Read to confirm how many controls are active |
| **Name** column | The guardrail's name | Identify the guardrail |
| **Type** column | The guardrail's category — `Pii Masking`, `Tool Permission`, or `Model Policy` | Tells you what the guardrail acts on |
| **Status** toggle | Turns a toggleable guardrail on or off for this agent | Enable or disable Sensitive Data Masking or Tool Execution Approval |
| **Always enforced** badge | Marks a guardrail that is locked on by the AI Gateway | Signals a Model Policy guardrail you can't change here |
| **Gear** | Opens the guardrail's configuration screen | Configure the masking entities or the approval skills list |
## Why this matters
* Guardrails catch problems at the earliest point they're detectable — before the model sees data, before a tool runs, before a disallowed model is used.
* Masking, tool approval, and model policy each protect a different stage of a run.
* The safe defaults (mask common PII, no forced approval, org-approved models) fit almost every agent.
## Related
{% content-ref url="/spaces/0qmgQjJ5aArDTj2ACFHG/pages/zH9Bsg8FxRdLqitlHI8J" %}
[Runtime & Versioning](/agent-builder/build/runtime-and-versioning.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}
{% content-ref url="/spaces/0qmgQjJ5aArDTj2ACFHG/pages/rGXmqmGrFNaJnqEn7wCA" %}
[Monitor](/agent-builder/monitor.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}
{% content-ref url="/spaces/0qmgQjJ5aArDTj2ACFHG/pages/I59HzEvpXa0tjAaqrtTo" %}
[Glossary](/start-here/glossary.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}
---
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