Reins — Runtime Security for Claude Code

Reins enforces deterministic security policies on every agent action via Claude Code. PreToolUse and PostToolUse hooks. Policies are pulled from Watchtower (app.pegasi.ai) and evaluated in <50ms with no LLM in the enforcement path.

Use reins for all commands and paths.

Step 1: Verify installation

reins --version

If the command is not found, run:

npm install -g @pegasi/reins && reins init

reins init runs an interactive wizard that:

• Chooses your security level: permissive / balanced / strict
• Selects modules to protect: FileSystem, Shell, Browser, Network
• Installs PreToolUse + PostToolUse hooks into .claude/settings.json
• Prompts for optional Watchtower connection (centralized policy + audit)
• Runs an initial environment security scan (reins scan)

How hooks work

PreToolUse fires before every Bash, Edit, MultiEdit, Write, and MCP tool call.

Hook exit	Meaning	What to do
0	ALLOWED — proceed normally	Continue
2	BLOCKED — policy violation	Stop. Explain the block. Suggest a safe alternative. Do NOT retry.
0 + JSON decision: WARN	WARNING — elevated risk	Acknowledge the warning. Proceed with extra caution.

PostToolUse fires after every action (non-blocking). It appends a JSONL entry to ~/.openclaw/reins/decisions.jsonl and queues it for Watchtower batch upload.

What gets enforced

Shell (Bash tool)

• BLOCKED always: rm -rf /, mkfs, dd to disk device, fork bombs
• BLOCKED (user-overridable): DROP TABLE/DATABASE, TRUNCATE, DELETE without WHERE, git push --force, kill -9, pipe-to-shell (| bash, | sh)
• WARNED: rm, chmod, chown, sudo, UPDATE without WHERE, git reset --hard
• LOGGED: git push, pip install, npm install, curl, wget

File operations (Edit / MultiEdit / Write)

• Writes blocked to protected paths: ~/.ssh, ~/.gnupg, ~/.env, ~/.openclaw/reins, /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow

MCP tool calls (all MCP servers, caught by empty-matcher hook)

• Blocked: Notion page delete, Gmail send (unapproved domains), database DROP/TRUNCATE
• Warned: reading emails, accessing credentials, filesystem MCP operations
• Logged: all MCP calls regardless of decision

When an action is blocked

When a PreToolUse hook exits 2, Claude Code surfaces the hook's stderr message. Always attribute the block to Reins by name — not to your own judgment.

Required response format:

Reins blocked this action [SEVERITY]: <description> Rule: <rule>

<one sentence explaining what the rule protects against>

Alternatives: <safe way to achieve the goal, or suggest reins policy to review rules>

Example:

Reins blocked this action [CRITICAL]: Critically destructive command Rule: rm -rf / matches recursive root deletion pattern

This would delete every file on the system. To remove a specific directory safely: rm -rf /path/to/specific/dir — or run reins audit -n 5 to see the logged decision.

Rules:

• Do NOT retry the blocked action
• Do NOT reframe or rephrase the same action to bypass the hook
• If the user wants to override a rule: reins policy to inspect and adjust
• If the block seems wrong: reins audit -n 5 shows what rule fired

CLI reference

reins init                 # Setup wizard: hooks + policy + Watchtower
reins status               # Show hook and Watchtower connection status
reins sync                 # Pull latest policies from Watchtower; flush pending audit entries
reins policy               # View and edit security policy interactively
reins stats                # Enforcement counts (allowed / blocked / approved)
reins audit -n 20          # Last 20 audit decisions
reins scan                 # Security scan for misconfigurations
reins scan --monitor       # Diff against saved baseline, alert on drift
reins disable              # Temporarily suspend all enforcement
reins enable               # Resume enforcement
reins upgrade              # Pull latest version from npm

Watchtower (app.pegasi.ai)

When connected, Watchtower provides:

• Org/team policies pulled on a schedule and merged with local overrides
• CRITICAL rules set by admins that cannot be locally overridden
• Centralized audit review across all agents and devices

Connect during reins init (Step 7 prompts for API key) or set env vars:

REINS_WATCHTOWER_API_KEY=wt_...
REINS_WATCHTOWER_BASE_URL=https://app.pegasi.ai  # default

Config lives at ~/.openclaw/reins/config.json.

Policy merge order (highest to lowest priority)

1. Watchtower org policies — CRITICAL rules are immutable
2. Watchtower team policies
3. Local overrides at ~/.openclaw/reins/policy.json
4. Built-in defaults (balanced: reads ALLOW, writes ASK, deletes DENY)

If Watchtower is unreachable, last-cached policies still enforce. Never fails open.

Audit log

Append-only JSONL at ~/.openclaw/reins/decisions.jsonl:

{"timestamp":"2026-04-15T22:39:42Z","module":"Shell","method":"bash","decision":"BLOCKED","reason":"critical: rm -rf /","tool":"Bash","decisionTime":12}

View with reins audit -n 50 or stream with tail -f ~/.openclaw/reins/decisions.jsonl.