Agent Governance: Approaches Compared
Enterprises governing AI agents face a choice between prevention (guardrails), visibility (observability), evidence (proof), and process (manual audit). These are not mutually exclusive. Here is how they compare and where each fits.
The Four Approaches
1. Inference Guardrails
What: Filter model input/output to prevent harmful content.
Strengths: Prevent specific failure modes in real time.
Gaps: No evidence of what actually happened. No tool/side-effect coverage. Mutable rules.
2. Observability Platforms
What: Trace, monitor, and visualize LLM calls and agent behavior.
Strengths: Debugging, cost tracking, performance optimization.
Gaps: Mutable data. Not third-party verifiable. Dashboard is not evidence.
3. Custom Wrappers
What: Team-built interceptors that log API calls and tool invocations.
Strengths: Flexible. Low initial cost. Team-controlled.
Gaps: No standard schema. No signing. High maintenance. Auditors cannot verify independently.
4. Protocol-First Proof (Claw EA)
What: Cryptographic receipts at every enforcement boundary, compiled into signed proof bundles.
Strengths: Offline verification. Tamper-evident. Third-party auditable. Explicit coverage claims.
Gaps: Does not prevent harmful outputs (use guardrails). Does not replace monitoring dashboards (use observability).
When to Use What
| Requirement | Best approach |
|---|---|
| Prevent harmful model outputs | Inference guardrails |
| Debug agent behavior in real time | Observability |
| Prove to an auditor what happened | Proof bundles (Claw EA) |
| Enforce policy before execution | Policy-as-code (Claw EA WPC) |
| Track cost and token usage | Observability or receipts |
| Third-party verification | Proof bundles (Claw EA) |
| Quick prototype logging | Custom wrappers |
| Compliance evidence (SOC 2, SOX) | Proof bundles + automated collection |
The Protocol Advantage
Most governance tools are products: closed platforms with proprietary formats. Claw EA is built on a protocol: five open primitives (WPC, CST, Receipt, Bundle, Verifier) with published schemas and a reference verifier. This means your evidence is not locked to a vendor. If you stop using Claw EA tomorrow, your proof bundles still verify.