@sovr/gate

AI Execution Control Plane — Intercept, audit, and control AI agent actions before they execute.

Why SOVR Gate?

AI agents are powerful but dangerous. They can:

• Send emails without review
• Process payments without approval
• Delete data without confirmation
• Execute irreversible actions automatically

SOVR Gate is the missing control layer between AI decision and real-world execution.

Without SOVR Gate:
AI Agent → Direct Execution → 💥 Irreversible Error

With SOVR Gate:
AI Agent → SOVR Gate → Human Approval → Safe Execution ✓

Installation

npm install @sovr/gate
# or
yarn add @sovr/gate
# or
pnpm add @sovr/gate

Quick Start

import { createGate } from '@sovr/gate';

// Create a gate instance
const gate = createGate({
  defaultDeny: true, // Block unregistered actions
  irreversibleActions: [
    'send_email',
    'process_payment',
    'delete_user',
  ],
});

// Before executing any action, check with the gate
async function executeAction(action) {
  const result = await gate.check({
    type: action.type,
    resource: action.resource,
    params: action.params,
  });

  if (result.allowed) {
    // ✅ Safe to execute
    return performAction(action);
  }
  
  if (result.requiresApproval) {
    // ⏳ Needs human approval
    console.log(`Waiting for approval: ${result.pendingApprovalId}`);
    return { status: 'pending_approval', id: result.pendingApprovalId };
  }
  
  // ❌ Blocked
  throw new Error(`Action blocked: ${result.reason}`);
}

Core Concepts

1. Action Types

Every action has a type that determines how it's handled:

| Type | Example | Default Behavior | |------|---------|------------------| | Read | get_user, list_orders | ✅ Always allowed | | Write | create_order, update_user | ⚠️ Logged | | Irreversible | delete_user, process_payment | 🛑 Requires approval |

2. Gate Verdicts

| Verdict | Meaning | |---------|---------| | ALLOW | Action can proceed | | DENY | Action is blocked | | PENDING_APPROVAL | Waiting for human approval |

3. Kill Switch

Emergency stop all AI actions:

// Something went wrong? Stop everything immediately
gate.enableKillSwitch('Security incident detected');

// All actions are now blocked
const result = await gate.check({ type: 'any_action', resource: 'any' });
// result.allowed === false
// result.reason === 'Kill switch enabled: Security incident detected'

// Resume when safe
gate.disableKillSwitch();

LangChain Integration

Wrap Individual Tools

import { createGate, wrapTool } from '@sovr/gate';
import { SerpAPI } from 'langchain/tools';

const gate = createGate();
const searchTool = wrapTool(new SerpAPI(), gate);

// Tool calls are now gated

Callback Handler (Recommended)

import { createGate, createCallbackHandler } from '@sovr/gate';
import { AgentExecutor } from 'langchain/agents';

const gate = createGate({
  defaultDeny: true,
  approvalRequired: ['send_email', 'execute_code'],
});

const handler = createCallbackHandler(gate, {
  blockOnDeny: true,
  contextProvider: async () => ({
    userId: getCurrentUserId(),
    tenantId: getTenantId(),
  }),
});

const agent = new AgentExecutor({
  // ... your agent config
  callbacks: [handler],
});

LCEL Middleware

import { createGate, gateMiddleware } from '@sovr/gate';
import { RunnableSequence } from 'langchain/runnables';

const gate = createGate();

const chain = RunnableSequence.from([
  gateMiddleware(gate, 'process_data'),
  myDataProcessor,
  gateMiddleware(gate, 'send_notification'),
  notificationSender,
]);

Human Approval Flow

const gate = createGate({
  irreversibleActions: ['process_refund'],
  webhooks: {
    onPendingApproval: 'https://your-app.com/webhooks/approval',
  },
});

// 1. Check action (will return PENDING_APPROVAL)
const result = await gate.check({
  type: 'process_refund',
  resource: 'payment',
  params: { amount: 1000, orderId: 'ord_123' },
});

console.log(result.requiresApproval); // true
console.log(result.pendingApprovalId); // 'apr_abc123'

// 2. Human reviews and approves
await gate.approve(result.pendingApprovalId, '[email protected]', 'Verified refund request');

// 3. Now the action can proceed

Configuration

const gate = createGate({
  // Tenant/organization ID
  tenantId: 'my-company',
  
  // Enable/disable the gate (kill switch)
  enabled: true,
  
  // Block actions not in allowList (zero-trust mode)
  defaultDeny: true,
  
  // Actions that bypass all checks
  allowList: ['get_status', 'list_items'],
  
  // Actions that are always blocked
  blockList: ['delete_database', 'shutdown_server'],
  
  // Actions requiring human approval
  approvalRequired: ['send_bulk_email', 'publish_content'],
  
  // Irreversible actions (always require approval)
  irreversibleActions: [
    'process_payment',
    'delete_user',
    'send_email',
  ],
  
  // Risk thresholds
  riskThresholds: {
    maxAmount: 100000,      // Block amounts above this
    highRiskAmount: 10000,  // Flag amounts above this
    blockedCountries: ['XX', 'YY'],
  },
  
  // Webhooks
  webhooks: {
    onPendingApproval: 'https://your-app.com/webhooks/approval',
    onDecision: 'https://your-app.com/webhooks/decision',
  },
});

Custom Storage

By default, SOVR Gate uses in-memory storage. For production, implement your own:

import { createGate, StorageAdapter } from '@sovr/gate';

class PostgresStorage implements StorageAdapter {
  async saveDecision(decision) {
    await db.insert('sovr_decisions', decision);
  }
  
  async getDecision(decisionId) {
    return db.findOne('sovr_decisions', { id: decisionId });
  }
  
  // ... implement other methods
}

const gate = createGate({
  storage: new PostgresStorage(),
});

Evidence Trail

Every decision creates an immutable evidence bundle:

const result = await gate.check({ type: 'send_email', resource: 'email' });

console.log(result.evidence);
// {
//   id: 'evt_abc123',
//   chain: [
//     {
//       id: 'rec_xyz',
//       type: 'gate_decision',
//       contentHash: 'sha256:...',
//       prevHash: '0000...',
//       timestamp: '2024-01-01T00:00:00Z',
//     }
//   ],
//   integrityHash: 'sha256:...',
// }

API Reference

createGate(config?)

Create a new gate instance.

gate.check(action, context?)

Check if an action is allowed.

gate.approve(approvalId, approvedBy, reason?)

Approve a pending action.

gate.reject(approvalId, rejectedBy, reason?)

Reject a pending action.

gate.enableKillSwitch(reason)

Emergency stop all actions.

gate.disableKillSwitch()

Resume normal operation.

gate.listPendingApprovals(tenantId?)

List all pending approvals.

License

MIT © SOVR

Questions? docs.sovrapp.com | Discord | [email protected]