LLM guardrails with audit logs and rollouts

Definition of LLM guardrails with audit logs and rollouts

LLM guardrails with audit logs and rollouts are AI gateway controls that enforce policy-as-code rules, record decisions, and let you safely roll changes out with shadow and canary traffic.

Why LLM guardrails with audit logs and rollouts matters

• Audit-ready logs make every allow, rewrite, redact, or refusal explainable.
• Shadow and canary modes let you validate changes before enforcing them.
• Governance features (projects, quotas, reason codes) align LLMs with enterprise policy.

How it works

• Send chat completions to the Policy Gateway AI endpoint instead of the base model endpoint.
• Attach a policy_id plus optional policy_user and policy_project_id for audit trails and quotas.
• Enable shadow/canary rollouts to test policy changes against live traffic safely.

Runnable cURL snippet

curl https://api.abliteration.ai/policy/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POLICY_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Policy-User: user-12345" \
  -H "X-Policy-Project: support-bot" \
  -d '{
    "model": "abliterated-model",
    "messages": [{"role":"user","content":"Summarize our refund policy."}],
    "policy_id": "support-guardrails"
  }'

Example policy JSON

{
  "policy_id": "support-guardrails",
  "name": "Support guardrails",
  "owner": "Platform team",
  "description": "Audit-friendly guardrails with safe rollouts.",
  "rules": {
    "allowlist": ["product docs", "account support", "refunds"],
    "denylist": ["credential theft", "account takeover"],
    "flagged_categories": ["self-harm/intent", "violence/graphic", "sexual/minors"],
    "response_pattern": "rewrite",
    "rewrite_instead_of_refuse": true,
    "redact": true,
    "reason_codes": ["ALLOW", "REWRITE", "REDACT", "ESCALATE"]
  },
  "org_controls": {
    "project_keys": true,
    "user_quotas": true,
    "audit_logs": true,
    "data_classification": "confidential",
    "user_quota": { "requests": 200, "tokens": 20000, "window": "daily" },
    "project_quota": { "requests": 20000, "tokens": 2000000, "window": "monthly" }
  },
  "rollout": {
    "shadow": { "enabled": true, "sample_percent": 10, "targets": ["support-bot"] },
    "canary": { "enabled": true, "sample_percent": 5, "targets": ["support-bot"] },
    "rollback_on_spike": true
  },
  "refusal_replacement": { "mode": "rewrite", "escalation_path": "policy-review@company.com" }
}

Before and after

Assistant: "I can't help with that."

Assistant: "Here is a short summary of your refund policy..."
decision: rewrite
reason_code: REWRITE
audit_tags: policy_id=support-guardrails project=support-bot

Run the Policy Gateway simulator

Preview guardrail decisions, reason codes, and audit tags before you ship.