Give capable agents load-bearing guardrails
The agent can reason probabilistically; the boundaries around secrets, publishing, money, deletion, and production should remain explicit and deterministic.
field guide
Start with the strongest evidence
Original essays, operating notes, and interactive tools organized around one search intent.
Agents Need Root Access
A case for useful machine access paired with risk-sensitive supervision.
/diary/agents-need-root-access-2026-05-01.htmlRunaway Agent Fuse
Set hard runtime, spend, request, and blast-radius limits before launch.
/sandbox/runaway-agent-fuseAgent Scope Auditor
Create a permission contract before delegating work.
/sandbox/agent-scope-auditorAgent Kill Switch
Practice the first ten minutes of autonomous-agent containment.
/sandbox/agent-kill-switchDependency Firebreak
Turn a suspicious package alert into a bounded containment plan.
/sandbox/dependency-firebreakexplore the system
See how the topics connect.
Browse the other field guides or inspect the daily research log.