> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.argentos.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Intent & Safety

> Control what your agent can and cannot do — from simple safety rules to full enterprise governance.

## Two Levels of Control

ArgentOS gives you control over your agent's behavior at two levels, depending on your needs:

|                      | **Safety Rules** (Core)                                                               | **Intent Governance** (Business)                                                                               |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Who it's for**     | Everyone                                                                              | Teams, MSPs, enterprise                                                                                        |
| **What it does**     | Set basic boundaries -- what your agent should never do, and what needs your approval | Full three-tier policy hierarchy with departments, monotonic inheritance, simulation gates, and industry packs |
| **Where to find it** | Dashboard > Settings > Safety Rules                                                   | Dashboard > Settings > Advanced Governance Console                                                             |
| **Complexity**       | 3 settings + 2 lists                                                                  | Full policy engine with 20+ configurable fields                                                                |

Both systems use the same underlying intent engine. Safety Rules is a simplified interface that writes to the same config. You can start with Safety Rules and upgrade to full governance when you need it.

## Safety Rules (Core)

Available to all ArgentOS users. Set basic guardrails for your agent in under a minute.

**[Read the Safety Rules guide](/intents/safety-rules)**

Three controls:

1. **Cautiousness level** -- How careful should your agent be? (Relaxed, Balanced, Strict)
2. **Never do** -- Actions that are always blocked, regardless of context
3. **Requires approval** -- Actions where your agent will ask before proceeding

## Intent Governance (Business)

For teams running multiple agents across departments with compliance requirements.

**[Read the Governance guide](/intents/governance)**

Full hierarchical policy engine:

* **Global > Department > Agent** inheritance (children can only tighten, never loosen)
* **Monotonic rules** -- neverDo is additive, allowedActions is subset-only, escalation thresholds get stricter
* **Simulation gates** -- Test agent behavior before deployment
* **Industry packs** -- Pre-built configurations for law, medical, financial, MSP, and more
* **Department templates** -- Support, Engineering, MSP Ops, Research

## How They Relate

```mermaid theme={null}
graph TD
    IE["Intent Engine (core)<br/>resolveEffectiveIntentForAgent()<br/>buildIntentSystemPromptHint()<br/>validateIntentHierarchy()"]
    SR["Safety Rules<br/>(Core UI)<br/>On/Off, Cautious,<br/>Never do, Approval"]
    GC["Governance Console<br/>(Business UI)<br/>Global policy, Departments,<br/>Agent policies, Simulation gates,<br/>Industry packs"]
    CFG["Same config: ~/.argentos/argent.json"]

    SR --> IE
    GC --> IE
    IE --> CFG
```

Safety Rules writes `enabled`, `runtimeMode`, `globalPolicy.neverDo`, and `globalPolicy.requiresHumanApproval`. The Governance Console exposes the full hierarchy. Both read and write the same `intent` config block.