How to Manage AI Agent Safety in Monorepos

SafeClaw by Authensor supports hierarchical policy configuration for monorepos, letting you define a shared base policy at the root and per-package overrides for each workspace. Each agent in your monorepo gets the right permissions for its scope without blanket access to the entire repository. Install with npx @authensor/safeclaw at the monorepo root.

The Monorepo Agent Safety Problem

Monorepos contain multiple packages, services, and agents in a single repository. A coding agent working on the frontend should not have write access to the backend database migration files. A testing agent should not be able to modify production configuration. Without scoped policies, every agent has access to everything.

SafeClaw's hierarchical policy system solves this with 446 validated tests and hash-chained audit logging across all agents.

Installation

# At monorepo root
npx @authensor/safeclaw

Monorepo Structure

my-monorepo/
├── safeclaw.policy.yaml          # root base policy
├── packages/
│   ├── frontend/
│   │   ├── safeclaw.policy.yaml  # frontend overrides
│   │   └── src/
│   ├── backend/
│   │   ├── safeclaw.policy.yaml  # backend overrides
│   │   └── src/
│   ├── ai-agent/
│   │   ├── safeclaw.policy.yaml  # agent-specific policy
│   │   └── src/
│   └── shared/
│       └── src/
├── turbo.json
└── package.json

Root Base Policy

# safeclaw.policy.yaml (root)
version: 1
defaultAction: deny

rules:
  # All packages can read shared code
  - action: file.read
    path:
      glob: "./packages/shared/**"
    decision: allow

# All packages can use LLM APIs
  - action: network.request
    host:
      in: ["api.openai.com", "api.anthropic.com"]
    decision: allow

# No package can read env files
  - action: file.read
    path:
      glob: "*/.env"
    decision: deny

# No shell execution by default
  - action: process.exec
    decision: deny

Package-Level Overrides

Frontend agent policy:

# packages/frontend/safeclaw.policy.yaml
version: 1
extends: "../../safeclaw.policy.yaml"

rules:
  - action: file.read
    path:
      glob: "./packages/frontend/src/**"
    decision: allow

- action: file.write
    path:
      glob: "./packages/frontend/src/**"
    decision: allow

- action: process.exec
    command:
      in: ["npm run build", "npm run test", "npx next build"]
    decision: allow

Backend agent policy:

# packages/backend/safeclaw.policy.yaml
version: 1
extends: "../../safeclaw.policy.yaml"

rules:
  - action: file.read
    path:
      glob: "./packages/backend/src/**"
    decision: allow

- action: file.write
    path:
      glob: "./packages/backend/src/**"
    decision: allow

- action: process.exec
    command:
      in: ["npm run build", "npm run test"]
    decision: allow

# Backend can access database (frontend cannot)
  - action: network.request
    host:
      equals: "db.internal"
    decision: allow

Turborepo Integration

Add SafeClaw validation to your Turborepo pipeline:

{
  "$schema": "https://turbo.build/schema.json",
  "pipeline": {
    "safeclaw:validate": {
      "inputs": ["safeclaw.policy.yaml"],
      "cache": true
    },
    "build": {
      "dependsOn": ["safeclaw:validate"],
      "outputs": ["dist/**"]
    },
    "test": {
      "dependsOn": ["safeclaw:validate"]
    }
  }
}

Package Script

{
  "scripts": {
    "safeclaw:validate": "npx @authensor/safeclaw validate",
    "safeclaw:start": "npx @authensor/safeclaw --policy ./safeclaw.policy.yaml",
    "dev": "concurrently \"npm run safeclaw:start\" \"npm run dev:app\""
  }
}

CI Validation

Validate all policies in CI before merge:

# .github/workflows/safeclaw.yml
name: SafeClaw Policy Validation
on: [pull_request]

jobs:
  validate:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20

- name: Validate root policy
        run: npx @authensor/safeclaw validate

- name: Validate package policies
        run: |
          for policy in packages/*/safeclaw.policy.yaml; do
            echo "Validating $policy"
            npx @authensor/safeclaw validate --policy "$policy"
          done

Per-Agent Scoping

When running multiple agents in the same monorepo, start SafeClaw with the package-specific policy:

import { Gate } from '@authensor/safeclaw';

// Frontend agent gets frontend policy
const frontendGate = new Gate({
  policy: './packages/frontend/safeclaw.policy.yaml'
});

// Backend agent gets backend policy
const backendGate = new Gate({
  policy: './packages/backend/safeclaw.policy.yaml'
});

Every decision is hash-chained in the audit trail, tagged by which policy file was used. MIT licensed, works with Claude and OpenAI.

Cross-References

• TypeScript Integration
• Policy Design Principles
• Per-Agent Isolation Pattern
• CI/CD Pipeline Recipe
• Policy Engine Architecture