# Authorize

Source: https://docs.openbox.ai/trust-lifecycle/authorize/

# Authorize (Phase 2)

The Authorize phase defines what the agent is allowed to perform. Configure guardrails, policies, and behavioral rules to enforce governance.

Access via **Agent Detail → Authorize** tab.

## Authorization Pipeline

Operations flow through three layers:

```mermaid
flowchart TD
    incoming["<b>Incoming Operation</b>"]
    guardrails["<b>Guardrails</b><br/>Input/output validation<br/>and transformation"]
    opa["<b>OPA Policy</b><br/>Stateless permission checks"]
    behavioral["<b>Behavioral Rules</b><br/>Stateful multi-step<br/>pattern detection"]
    decision["<b>Governance Decision</b>"]

    incoming --> guardrails --> opa --> behavioral --> decision
```

### Choosing the Right Layer

Each layer solves a different class of problem. Use the table below to decide which layer fits your use case.

| Layer                | Reach for this when…                                                                                         | Example                                                      |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Guardrails**       | You need to validate or transform data flowing in/out — content safety, PII, banned terms                    | Mask credit-card numbers before they reach the LLM           |
| **Policies**         | You need a stateless permission check on a single operation — field-level conditions, thresholds, role gates | Block invoice creation above $1,000 without approval         |
| **Behavioral Rules** | You need to detect multi-step patterns across a session — sequences, frequencies, combinations               | Halt file generation if the agent never queried the database |

### How Multiple Rules Execute

Guardrails, Policies, and Behavioral Rules can all have multiple rules active at the same time. The key difference is how they execute.

**[Guardrails](./guardrails)** run all enabled guardrails in order, like a pipeline. The output of one guardrail feeds into the next, which allows chaining transformations.

`Input → Guardrail 1 (mask PII) → Guardrail 2 (mask bad words) → Guardrail 3 (block harmful content) → Output`

**[Policies](./policies)** execute based on the logic defined in your Rego file. Multiple rules can exist within a single policy.

**[Behavioral Rules](./behaviors)** are checked one by one in priority order and stop at the first rule that triggers a verdict. Remaining rules are not evaluated.

`Rule 1 (not triggered) → Rule 2 (triggered → REQUIRE_APPROVAL) → STOP` — Rule 3, 4, 5... are skipped.

| Feature                         | Multiple active? | Execution                        |
| ------------------------------- | ---------------- | -------------------------------- |
| [Guardrails](./guardrails)      | Yes              | Runs all in order (chained)      |
| [Policies](./policies)          | Yes              | Executes based on Rego logic     |
| [Behavioral Rules](./behaviors) | Yes              | Stops at first triggered verdict |

## Governance Decisions

The authorization pipeline produces one of four decisions:

| Decision              | Effect                           | Trust Impact          |
| --------------------- | -------------------------------- | --------------------- |
| **HALT**              | Terminates entire agent session  | Significant negative  |
| **BLOCK**             | Action rejected, agent continues | Negative              |
| **REQUIRE_APPROVAL** | Pauses for HITL                  | Neutral (pending)     |
| **ALLOW**             | Operation proceeds               | Positive (compliance) |

## Trust Tier-Based Defaults

Lower trust tiers receive stricter defaults:

| Tier       | Default Behavior                      |
| ---------- | ------------------------------------- |
| **Tier 1** | Most operations allowed, logging only |
| **Tier 2** | Standard policies enforced            |
| **Tier 3** | Enhanced checks, some HITL            |
| **Tier 4** | Strict controls, frequent HITL        |

## Next Phase

Once you've configured governance controls:

→ **[Monitor](/trust-lifecycle/monitor)** — Start your agent and observe its runtime behavior with [Session Replay](/trust-lifecycle/session-replay)