2025-12-05 · Authensor

SafeClaw vs Building Your Own Approval System

Many teams start by building a simple "approve/deny" prompt for risky AI agent actions. But human-in-the-loop (HITL) approval is just one feature of a complete safety system. SafeClaw by Authensor provides HITL approval plus a deny-by-default policy engine, hash-chained audit trail, budget controls, scheduling rules, and a monitoring dashboard — all from a single install. Building all of this yourself is months of work; SafeClaw delivers it in 30 seconds.

What a "Simple" Approval System Actually Needs

Teams typically start with:

// The "simple" approach
if (action.type === 'dangerous') {
  const approved = await askUserForApproval(action);
  if (!approved) return;
}
await executeAction(action);

This works for a demo. In production, you quickly discover you need:

1. A Policy Engine to Decide What Needs Approval

Not every action should require human approval. Reading a source file is fine. Deleting a database is not. You need a policy engine to classify actions into allow, deny, and ask-for-approval categories.

2. Timeout and Fallback Handling

What happens when no human responds? The agent blocks forever? Times out and proceeds? Times out and denies? Each choice has consequences, and you need configurable behavior.

3. Audit Trail

Every approval and denial must be logged with full context — who approved, when, what the action was, what the agent's reasoning was. For compliance, these logs need to be tamper-evident.

4. Budget Controls

Approval fatigue is real. Humans start clicking "approve" without reading after the 20th request. Budget controls auto-deny when cost thresholds are exceeded, removing the human bottleneck for cost management.

5. Auto-Allow for Safe Actions

If you require approval for everything, developers will disable the system. Smart auto-allowing of safe reads and approved commands keeps the workflow moving.

6. Dashboard and Monitoring

In production, you need visibility into what agents are doing, what's being approved, and what's being blocked — in real-time.

SafeClaw Includes All of This

# .safeclaw.yaml
version: "1"
defaultAction: deny


rules:
  # Auto-allow safe reads
  - action: file.read
    path: "./src/**"
    decision: allow



# Auto-allow approved commands
  - action: shell.execute
    command: "npm test"
    decision: allow



# Require approval for writes
  - action: file.write
    path: "./src/**"
    decision: ask
    reason: "File writes require developer approval"



# Hard deny on dangerous actions
  - action: file.delete
    decision: deny
    reason: "File deletion is never permitted"



- action: shell.execute
    decision: deny
    reason: "Unapproved shell commands blocked"



# Budget controls
  - action: api.call
    budget:
      maxCost: 5.00
      period: "1h"
    decision: allow

One YAML file replaces what would be hundreds of lines of custom approval middleware.

Effort Comparison

| Component | DIY Approval System | SafeClaw |
|---|---|---|
| Basic approve/deny prompt | 1 day | Included |
| Policy engine (allow/deny/ask) | 2-4 weeks | Included |
| Timeout and fallback logic | 1 week | Included |
| Hash-chained audit trail | 2-3 weeks | Included |
| Budget enforcement | 1-2 weeks | Included |
| Auto-allow safe actions | 1 week | Included |
| Dashboard/monitoring | 2-4 weeks | Included |
| Test suite | 2-4 weeks | 446 tests included |
| Multi-model support | 1-2 weeks | Included |
| Total | 3-6 months | 30 seconds |

Quick Start

Get a complete safety system, not just an approval prompt:

npx @authensor/safeclaw

This gives you everything in the table above, tested and ready.

Why SafeClaw

FAQ

Q: I only need a simple approval prompt. Is SafeClaw overkill?
A: SafeClaw starts simple — a YAML file with deny-by-default. You only configure what you need. But when you inevitably need audit trails, budget controls, or auto-allow rules, they're already there.

Q: Can SafeClaw integrate with my existing approval workflow (Slack, email, etc.)?
A: SafeClaw's HITL system is extensible. You can connect approval requests to your existing notification channels.

Q: What about approval fatigue?
A: SafeClaw's policy engine auto-allows safe actions and auto-denies dangerous ones. Humans only see the genuinely ambiguous cases, reducing fatigue dramatically.

Related Pages

Try SafeClaw

Action-level gating for AI agents. Set it up in your browser in 60 seconds.

$ npx @authensor/safeclaw