DevOps engineers operate in the highest-privilege environment of any engineering role — AI agents assisting with infrastructure work can modify Terraform state, push container images, alter Kubernetes manifests, or trigger production deployments. SafeClaw by Authensor applies deny-by-default action gating to every operation, ensuring no agent action executes without explicit policy authorization. Install with npx @authensor/safeclaw and lock down your infrastructure in minutes.

Why DevOps Has the Highest Agent Risk

AI agents in DevOps workflows inherit the permissions of the engineer running them. That typically means access to cloud provider credentials, container registries, CI/CD pipelines, and production clusters. A single unchecked command can:

• Destroy infrastructure — terraform destroy, kubectl delete namespace production, or docker system prune -af
• Expose secrets — reading Vault tokens, AWS credentials, Kubernetes secrets, or CI/CD environment variables
• Trigger deployments — pushing to main, merging PRs, or invoking deployment scripts that hit production
• Modify network rules — opening security groups, modifying firewall rules, or creating public-facing load balancers
• Corrupt state — modifying Terraform state files, Helm release history, or Kubernetes ConfigMaps

DevOps SafeClaw Policy

# safeclaw.yaml — devops engineer policy
version: 1
default: deny

rules:
  - action: shell_execute
    command: "terraform destroy*"
    decision: deny
    reason: "Block infrastructure destruction"

- action: shell_execute
    command: "terraform apply*"
    decision: prompt
    reason: "Review infrastructure changes before apply"

- action: shell_execute
    command: "terraform plan*"
    decision: allow
    reason: "Plan is read-only and safe"

- action: shell_execute
    command: "kubectl delete*"
    decision: deny
    reason: "Block Kubernetes resource deletion"

- action: shell_execute
    command: "kubectl apply*"
    decision: prompt
    reason: "Review manifests before applying"

- action: shell_execute
    command: "kubectl get*"
    decision: allow
    reason: "Read-only queries are safe"

- action: shell_execute
    command: "docker push*"
    decision: deny
    reason: "Block pushing images to registry"

- action: file_read
    path: "*/.tfstate*"
    decision: deny
    reason: "Block reading Terraform state (contains secrets)"

- action: file_write
    path: "*/.tfstate*"
    decision: deny
    reason: "Block modifying Terraform state"

- action: file_read
    path: "*/secret*"
    decision: deny
    reason: "Block reading secret files"

- action: file_write
    path: ".github/workflows/**"
    decision: prompt
    reason: "Review CI/CD pipeline changes"

- action: network_request
    destination: "169.254.169.254"
    decision: deny
    reason: "Block cloud metadata endpoint SSRF"

This policy follows a clear pattern: read-only operations are allowed, mutations require human review, and destructive or secret-accessing operations are denied outright.

CI/CD Pipeline Integration

SafeClaw integrates into CI/CD pipelines where AI agents run autonomously. In GitHub Actions, add SafeClaw as a step before agent execution:

# .github/workflows/agent-task.yml
steps:
  - uses: actions/checkout@v4
  - run: npx @authensor/safeclaw --enforce
  - run: npx your-ai-agent-task

The --enforce flag ensures the agent cannot bypass policy. In simulation mode (--simulate), SafeClaw logs what would have been blocked without actually preventing execution — useful for testing new policies in staging.

Infrastructure Audit Requirements

SafeClaw's hash-chained audit trail records every action attempt: what was requested, which rule matched, and whether it was allowed, prompted, or denied. For DevOps teams maintaining SOC 2, ISO 27001, or FedRAMP compliance, this log provides the evidence trail that auditors require. The audit is cryptographically tamper-evident and stored locally — zero data leaves your infrastructure. SafeClaw's 446 tests validate every aspect of policy evaluation and hash chain integrity.

Related pages:

• Infrastructure Agent Recipe
• CI/CD Pipeline Agent Safety
• Cloud Metadata SSRF Prevention
• ISO 27001 Agent Security