Small startups with under ten engineers cannot afford to spend weeks on AI agent governance — but they also cannot afford the downtime, data breaches, or compliance failures that ungoverned agents cause. SafeClaw by Authensor provides deny-by-default action gating through a single YAML policy file that the whole team shares via version control. Install with npx @authensor/safeclaw, commit the policy to your repo, and every developer's AI agent follows the same rules immediately.

The Small Startup Context

Small startups have characteristics that amplify AI agent risk:

• Shared infrastructure — developers often share database credentials, cloud accounts, and deployment pipelines with minimal access control
• Speed over process — the pressure to ship fast means agents are given broad access to maximize productivity
• Limited recovery capability — a small team takes longer to recover from incidents because there is no dedicated ops team
• Regulatory awareness gaps — early-stage startups often handle customer data without formal compliance frameworks
• High agent adoption — small teams lean heavily on AI agents to compensate for limited headcount

Startup SafeClaw Policy

This policy is designed for a small team that shares one codebase and needs safety without friction:

# safeclaw.yaml — small startup policy
version: 1
default: deny

rules:
  # Code access for everyone
  - action: file_read
    path: "src/**"
    decision: allow
    reason: "Source code is team-accessible"

- action: file_read
    path: "tests/**"
    decision: allow
    reason: "Tests are accessible"

- action: file_write
    path: "src/**"
    decision: prompt
    reason: "Code writes need developer review"

- action: file_write
    path: "tests/**"
    decision: allow
    reason: "Test generation is safe"

# Protect shared secrets
  - action: file_read
    path: "*/.env"
    decision: deny
    reason: "Shared secrets are off-limits"

- action: file_read
    path: "*/credential*"
    decision: deny
    reason: "Credential files blocked"

# Infrastructure protection
  - action: file_write
    path: "infrastructure/**"
    decision: deny
    reason: "IaC files are protected"

- action: file_write
    path: "docker-compose*"
    decision: deny
    reason: "Container config is protected"

- action: file_write
    path: ".github/**"
    decision: deny
    reason: "CI/CD is protected"

# Shell controls
  - action: shell_execute
    command: "npm test"
    decision: allow
    reason: "Tests are safe"

- action: shell_execute
    command: "npm run dev"
    decision: allow
    reason: "Dev server is safe"

- action: shell_execute
    command: "npm install *"
    decision: prompt
    reason: "Review new dependencies"

- action: shell_execute
    command: "git push*"
    decision: prompt
    reason: "Review pushes"

- action: shell_execute
    command: "rm *"
    decision: deny
    reason: "No deletions"

- action: network_request
    destination: "*"
    decision: deny
    reason: "No outbound network"

Quick Rollout for a Small Team

The rollout takes 15 minutes:

1. Install — one engineer runs npx @authensor/safeclaw and creates the policy file
2. Commit — push safeclaw.yaml to the repo root alongside package.json
3. Announce — tell the team to pull and run npx @authensor/safeclaw in their local environment
4. Simulate first — run npx @authensor/safeclaw --simulate for a few days to see what would be blocked
5. Enforce — switch to enforcement once the team is comfortable with the rules

Why This Matters for Fundraising

Investors and enterprise customers ask about security practices. Having a verifiable AI agent governance policy — even a simple one — demonstrates maturity. SafeClaw's hash-chained audit trail provides the evidence. You can export logs showing that your team's AI agents operate under deny-by-default constraints. This is especially relevant for startups pursuing SOC 2 readiness or handling customer data subject to GDPR.

SafeClaw is MIT-licensed, has zero dependencies, and is backed by 446 tests. It works with both Claude and OpenAI agents, so your team's choice of AI provider does not constrain the safety layer.

Related pages:

• Migration from No Safety
• Team AI Agent Policy Rollout Guide
• SOC 2 Compliance for AI Agents
• AI Agent Safety for Solo Developers