How to Add Safety Policies to Replit AI Agent

SafeClaw by Authensor adds deny-by-default safety policies to Replit's AI agent, gating every file operation, shell command, package installation, and deployment action before execution. Replit's agent can build, run, and deploy entire applications autonomously — SafeClaw ensures every action complies with your defined rules.

How Replit's AI Agent Works

Replit's AI agent operates in a cloud workspace with full access to the filesystem, a shell, a package manager, and deployment infrastructure. It can create projects from scratch, modify existing code, install dependencies, run the application, debug errors by reading logs, and deploy to production — all autonomously. The agent operates in a planning loop: it decides what to do, executes the action, observes the result, and plans the next step. Without policy enforcement, the agent has the same access as the workspace owner.

Replit Agent → Planned Action → [SafeClaw Policy Check] → Execute or Block

Quick Start

npx @authensor/safeclaw

Creates a safeclaw.yaml in your Replit project root. SafeClaw integrates as a pre-execution hook on the agent's tool calls.

Step 1: Define Replit-Specific Policies

# safeclaw.yaml
version: 1
default: deny

policies:
  - name: "replit-file-operations"
    description: "Scope file access for Replit agent"
    actions:
      - tool: "write_file"
        effect: allow
        constraints:
          path_pattern: "src/|pages/|components/|api/|styles/**"
      - tool: "read_file"
        effect: allow
      - tool: "create_file"
        effect: allow
        constraints:
          path_pattern: "src/|pages/|components/|tests/"
      - tool: "delete_file"
        effect: deny
      - tool: "write_file"
        effect: deny
        constraints:
          path_pattern: ".replit|replit.nix|.env|.lock"

- name: "replit-shell-policy"
    description: "Restrict shell command execution"
    actions:
      - tool: "shell_command"
        effect: allow
        constraints:
          command_pattern: "npm test|npm run |node |npx *"
      - tool: "shell_command"
        effect: allow
        constraints:
          command_pattern: "pip install |python "
      - tool: "shell_command"
        effect: deny
        constraints:
          command_pattern: "rm -rf|sudo |curl  | sh|wget "
      - tool: "shell_command"
        effect: deny

- name: "replit-package-policy"
    description: "Control package installations"
    actions:
      - tool: "install_package"
        effect: allow
        constraints:
          registry: "npm|pypi"
      - tool: "install_package"
        effect: deny
        constraints:
          scope: "global"

- name: "replit-deploy-policy"
    description: "Block autonomous deployments"
    actions:
      - tool: "deploy"
        effect: deny
      - tool: "shell_command"
        effect: deny
        constraints:
          command_pattern: "deployctl |vercel |netlify deploy*"

Step 2: Integrate with Replit's Tool Execution

Add SafeClaw as a middleware in the agent's execution pipeline:

import { SafeClaw } from "@authensor/safeclaw";

const safeclaw = new SafeClaw("./safeclaw.yaml");

// Middleware for Replit agent tool execution
async function executeWithPolicy(tool: string, args: any) {
  const decision = safeclaw.evaluate(tool, args);

if (!decision.allowed) {
    return {
      status: "denied",
      reason: decision.reason,
      policy: decision.matchedPolicy,
    };
  }

return await replitExecutor.run(tool, args);
}

Step 3: Protect Replit Configuration Files

Replit's agent can modify workspace configuration files like .replit and replit.nix, which control the development environment. Protect these:

policies:
  - name: "replit-config-protection"
    description: "Block modification of Replit configs"
    actions:
      - tool: "write_file"
        effect: deny
        constraints:
          path_pattern: ".replit|replit.nix|.replit.workflow"
      - tool: "write_file"
        effect: deny
        constraints:
          path_pattern: ".nix|.config/*"

This prevents the agent from reconfiguring the workspace environment, which could lead to privilege escalation or dependency supply chain attacks.

Step 4: Control Database and Secrets Access

Replit workspaces often include databases and secrets. Ensure the agent can't access or leak them:

policies:
  - name: "replit-secrets-policy"
    description: "Protect secrets and database access"
    actions:
      - tool: "read_file"
        effect: deny
        constraints:
          path_pattern: ".env|secrets/*"
      - tool: "shell_command"
        effect: deny
        constraints:
          command_pattern: "echo $|printenv|env|set"
      - tool: "query_database"
        effect: allow
        constraints:
          operation: "SELECT"
      - tool: "query_database"
        effect: deny
        constraints:
          operation: "DROP|DELETE|TRUNCATE|ALTER"

Step 5: Audit the Agent's Session

Review what the Replit agent did during its session:

npx @authensor/safeclaw audit --session latest

Each audit entry includes the timestamp, tool name, arguments, matched policy, and decision — hash-chained for tamper evidence. This is especially valuable in Replit's collaborative environment where multiple users may interact with the agent.

Why SafeClaw

• 446 tests covering policy evaluation, edge cases, and audit integrity
• Deny-by-default — no action executes unless your policy explicitly allows it
• Sub-millisecond evaluation — no delay in the agent's planning-execution loop
• Hash-chained audit log — tamper-evident record of the full agent session
• Works with Claude AND OpenAI — supports whatever model powers Replit's agent

Related Pages

• How to Secure Devin and Autonomous Coding Agents
• How to Add Action Gating to GitHub Copilot Workflows
• How to Secure AI Agents in Cursor IDE