Security-first, with escape hatches

Local-first doesn’t mean consequence-free. An agent that can execute shell commands, call HTTP endpoints, and write files is a privileged process. The default autonomy level is supervised: medium-risk operations require approval, high-risk operations are blocked.

The runtime ships with:

• Workspace boundaries (the agent can only touch paths inside its configured workspace)
• Command allow/deny lists
• Shell-policy validation
• OS-level sandboxes (Docker, Firejail, Bubblewrap, Landlock on Linux; Seatbelt on macOS)
• Tool receipts: a cryptographically-linked audit log of every tool call
• Emergency stop (zeroclaw estop) and OTP-gated actions

For developers and home-lab users who understand the trade-offs, there’s YOLO mode: one config preset that disables the guardrails. It’s loud, logged, and obviously named. Not the default.