# Guardrails

Paths the coding agent must not change, the defaults, and how to edit the list.

## Prerequisites

- The project exists. Open **Settings → Guardrails**.

## Steps

The section says "Globs the coding agent must never modify. Requests that need these files are classified as large."

A request that has to change a matching file is held as **Needs a quote**. The classification reason is "The change touches a protected path, so it needs a quote." If a run still produces a protected path or deletes a file, the request is **Review required** and Autopilot will not merge it. The reason lines start with "Protected path:" or "Deleted file:". **Approve & merge** then says "Review required — merge on GitHub."

The agent is also told not to write those paths.

### Defaults

A new project copies this list, then adds matching folders it finds in the repository (auth, login, session, billing, stripe, checkout, payment, webhook, models, migrations, alembic, and `middleware` files).

- `.env*` and `**/.env*`
- `.github/**`
- `**/*.pem` and `**/*.key`
- `package.json`, `package-lock.json`, `pnpm-lock.yaml`, `yarn.lock`
- `requirements.txt`, `Pipfile*`, `poetry.lock`
- `vercel.json`, `Procfile`, `app.json`, `Dockerfile`, `docker-compose*`
- `**/auth/**`, `**/auth.*`, `middleware.*`
- `**/login/**`, `**/session*`
- `**/billing/**`, `**/stripe/**`, `**/payment*/**`, `**/checkout/**`, `**/webhook*/**`
- `prisma/schema.prisma`, `prisma/migrations/**`, `migrations/**`, `alembic/**`
- `**/models.py`, `**/db/migrate/**`

The section mark stays green. Guardrails are not a setup check.

### Change the list

1. Type a glob. The placeholder is `src/legacy/**`. Press **Add**, or press Enter.
2. Press **Remove** on a line to drop it. The button name is "Remove" plus the path.
3. Press **Save**.
4. **Reset to defaults** rebuilds the list from the built-in paths and the repository tree.
5. **Add AGENTS.md** opens a pull request that adds `AGENTS.md` at the repository root, including the protected paths. After that pull request exists, the button is replaced by **AGENTS.md PR #** and the number.

## Verify

A request that needs a protected file lands on **Needs a quote**, or later shows **Review required** with a "Protected path:" line. A text change that does not touch those paths still proceeds under the current Autopilot mode.

## Troubleshooting

- Autopilot skipped a change you expected to ship. Open the request and read **Review required**. A protected path or a deleted file always waits.
- **Reset to defaults** removed a path you added. Add it again and press **Save**.
- The client still sees a quote for a small visual change. The files the agent would edit match a glob on this list. Narrow the glob, or handle that request with a quote.