Quickstart

The fastest way to see Warden work — no API key, no external server.

1. The self-contained demo

cargo build
./target/debug/warden demo

The demo drives a simulated agent through every decision path — allow, a per-run budget, deny, and a hold-for-approval (both approved and denied) — then prints the audit trail and verifies the hash chain.

2. Prove the record is tamper-evident

warden audit tail   --audit .warden-demo/audit.jsonl   # what the agent did
warden audit verify --audit .warden-demo/audit.jsonl   # prove it wasn't altered

Now edit any single line in .warden-demo/audit.jsonl and re-run verify — the tamper is caught with the exact sequence number.

3. Dry-run a policy decision

You can ask Warden what it would decide, without running an agent:

warden policy test --policy warden.policy.toml \
  --tool wire_funds --args '{"amount": 5000}'
# -> decision, trace, and reason, nothing executed

4. Front a real tool server

Point an MCP client at Warden instead of the tool server; Warden launches the real server as its upstream:

warden proxy \
  --upstream "python3 examples/echo_mcp_server.py" \
  --agent prod-agent \
  --policy warden.policy.toml

Allowed calls forward; denied calls are blocked before they reach the upstream; held calls wait for warden approve/warden deny. Everything is appended to .warden/audit.jsonl.

Next

• Govern your first agent — wire Warden into a real agent framework.
• Jump to your provider guide for an end-to-end, platform-specific walkthrough.