🦞 + 🪢 ClawBands

Put safety bands on OpenClaw

ClawBands is a security middleware for OpenClaw AI agents. It hooks into OpenClaw's plugin system to intercept every tool execution (file writes, shell commands, network requests) and enforces human-in-the-loop approval before dangerous actions execute.

Why?

OpenClaw can execute shell commands, modify files, and access your APIs. OS-level isolation (containers, VMs) protects your host machine, but it doesn't protect the services your agent has access to.

ClawBands solves this by hooking into OpenClaw's before_tool_call plugin event. Before any dangerous action executes (writes, deletes, shell commands, API calls), the agent pauses and waits for your decision. In a terminal, you get an interactive prompt. On messaging channels (WhatsApp, Telegram), the agent asks you YES/NO and relays your answer via a dedicated clawbands_respond tool. Every choice is logged to an immutable audit trail. Think of it as sudo for your AI agent: nothing happens without your explicit permission.

Features

• 🔒 Synchronous Blocking - Agent pauses until you approve
• ⚙️ Granular Control - Allow reads, ask on writes, deny deletes
• 💬 Channel Support - Works in terminal, WhatsApp, Telegram via clawbands_respond tool
• 📊 Full Audit Trail - Every decision logged (JSON Lines format)
• ⚡ Zero Latency - Runs in-process, no API calls

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 18.0.0
• OpenClaw installed

Installation

# Install globally
npm install -g clawbands

# Run interactive setup
clawbands init

# Restart OpenClaw
openclaw restart

Done! ClawBands is now protecting your OpenClaw instance.

How It Works

Terminal Mode (TTY)

Agent calls tool: write('/etc/passwd', 'hacked')
  → before_tool_call hook fires
  → ClawBands checks policy: write = ASK
  → Interactive prompt:
    ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
    │ 🦞 CLAWBANDS SECURITY ALERT         │
    │                                     │
    │ Module: FileSystem                  │
    │ Method: write                       │
    │ Args: ["/etc/passwd", "hacked"]     │
    │                                     │
    │ ❯ ✓ Approve                         │
    │   ✗ Reject                          │
    └─────────────────────────────────────┘
  → You reject → { block: true }
  → Decision logged to audit trail

Channel Mode (WhatsApp / Telegram)

Agent calls tool: bash('rm -rf /tmp/data')
  → before_tool_call → policy = ASK → blocked (pending approval)
  → Agent asks: "ClawBands requires approval. YES or NO?"

User replies YES:
  → Agent calls clawbands_respond({ decision: "yes" })
  → before_tool_call intercepts → approves pending entry
  → Agent retries bash('rm -rf /tmp/data') → approved ✓

User replies NO:
  → Agent calls clawbands_respond({ decision: "no" })
  → before_tool_call intercepts → denies pending entry
  → Agent does NOT retry → cancelled ✓

The clawbands_respond tool is registered automatically via api.registerTool() when the gateway supports it.

Security Policies

ClawBands uses three decision types:

| Policy | Behavior | |--------|----------| | ALLOW | Execute immediately (e.g., file reads) | | ASK | Prompt for approval (e.g., file writes) | | DENY | Block automatically (e.g., file deletes) |

Default policy (Balanced):

• FileSystem: read=ALLOW, write=ASK, delete=DENY
• Shell: bash=ASK, exec=ASK
• Network: fetch=ASK, request=ASK
• Everything else: ASK (fail-secure default)

CLI Commands

clawbands init        # Interactive setup wizard
clawbands policy      # Manage security policies
clawbands stats       # View statistics
clawbands audit       # View decision history
clawbands reset       # Reset statistics
clawbands disable     # Temporarily disable
clawbands enable      # Re-enable

Example: View Audit Trail

$ clawbands audit --lines 5

16:05:00 | FileSystem.read              | ALLOWED    |   0.0s
16:06:00 | FileSystem.write             | APPROVED   |   3.5s (human)
16:07:00 | Shell.bash                   | REJECTED   |   1.2s (human)
16:08:00 | FileSystem.delete            | BLOCKED    |   0.0s - Policy: DENY

Example: View Statistics

$ clawbands stats

📊 ClawBands Statistics

Total Calls:    142

Decisions:
  ✅ Allowed:      35 (24.6%)
  ✅ Approved:     89 (62.7%) - by user
  ❌ Rejected:     12 (8.5%)  - by user
  🚫 Blocked:       6 (4.2%)  - by policy

Average Decision Time: 2.8s

Data Storage

All data stored in ~/.openclaw/clawbands/:

~/.openclaw/clawbands/
├── policy.json       # Your security rules
├── decisions.jsonl   # Audit trail (append-only)
├── stats.json        # Statistics
└── clawbands.log     # Application logs

Use as a Library

import { Interceptor, createToolCallHook } from 'clawbands';

// Create interceptor with default policy
const interceptor = new Interceptor();

// Create a hook handler for OpenClaw's before_tool_call event
const hook = createToolCallHook(interceptor);

// Register with the OpenClaw plugin API
api.on('before_tool_call', hook);

Protected Tools

ClawBands intercepts every tool mapped in TOOL_TO_MODULE:

• FileSystem: read, write, edit, glob
• Shell: bash, exec
• Browser: navigate, screenshot, click, type, evaluate
• Network: fetch, request, webhook, download
• Gateway: listSessions, listNodes, sendMessage

Any unmapped tool falls through to defaultAction (ASK by default).

Architecture

src/
├── core/
│   ├── Interceptor.ts    # Policy evaluation engine
│   ├── Arbitrator.ts     # Human-in-the-loop (TTY prompt / channel queue)
│   ├── ApprovalQueue.ts  # In-memory approval state for channel mode
│   └── Logger.ts         # Winston-based logging
├── plugin/
│   ├── index.ts              # Plugin entry point (hook + tool registration)
│   ├── tool-interceptor.ts   # before_tool_call handler + clawbands_respond intercept
│   └── config-manager.ts     # OpenClaw config management (register/unregister)
├── storage/        # Persistence (PolicyStore, DecisionLog, StatsTracker)
├── cli/            # Command-line interface
├── types.ts        # TypeScript definitions
└── config.ts       # Default policies

Development

# Clone repo
git clone https://github.com/SeyZ/clawbands.git
cd clawbands

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

# Test CLI locally
node dist/cli/index.js init

# Link for global testing
npm link
clawbands --help

Security Guarantees

✅ Zero Trust - Every action evaluated ✅ Synchronous Blocking - Agent waits for approval ✅ No Bypass - Plugin hooks intercept all tool calls ✅ Immutable Audit - JSON Lines append-only format ✅ Human Authority - Critical decisions need approval ✅ Fail Secure - Unknown actions default to ASK/DENY

Contributing

We believe in safe AI. PRs welcome!

1. Fork the repo
2. Create your feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing
3. Commit changes: git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'
4. Push: git push origin feature/amazing
5. Open a Pull Request

See CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

License

MIT - See LICENSE for details.

Acknowledgments

• Built for OpenClaw agents
• Inspired by the need for human oversight in AI systems
• Thanks to the AI safety community

Built with ❤️ for a safer AI future.