Action Policies

Action policies provide fine-grained control over what actions an AI agent can perform. Use static policy files to gate destructive actions or require explicit confirmation for sensitive operations.

Quick Start

# Create policy file
cat > policy.json <<EOF
{
  "default": "deny",
  "allow": ["navigate", "click", "fill", "get", "snapshot"]
}
EOF

# Apply policy
agent-browser --action-policy ./policy.json open example.com

Policy File Format

Action policies are JSON files with the following structure:

{
  "default": "allow" | "deny",
  "allow": ["category1", "category2"],
  "deny": ["category3", "category4"]
}

Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
`default`	`”allow” \| “deny”`	Yes	Default policy for actions not in allow/deny lists
`allow`	`string[]`	No	Action categories to explicitly allow
`deny`	`string[]`	No	Action categories to explicitly deny (takes precedence)

Action Categories

Actions are grouped into categories for easier policy management:

Category	Actions	Description
`navigate`	navigate, back, forward, reload, tab_new	Page navigation
`click`	click, dblclick, tap	Click interactions
`fill`	fill, type, keyboard, inserttext, select, multiselect, check, uncheck, clear, selectall, setvalue	Form input and text entry
`download`	download, waitfordownload	File downloads
`upload`	upload	File uploads
`eval`	evaluate, evalhandle, addscript, addinitscript, addstyle, expose, setcontent	JavaScript evaluation (high risk)
`snapshot`	snapshot, screenshot, pdf, diff_snapshot, diff_screenshot, diff_url	Page inspection and diffing
`scroll`	scroll, scrollintoview	Scrolling
`wait`	wait, waitforurl, waitforloadstate, waitforfunction	Waiting operations
`get`	gettext, content, innerhtml, innertext, inputvalue, url, title, getattribute, count, boundingbox, styles, isvisible, isenabled, ischecked, responsebody, getbyrole, getbytext, etc.	Read-only data retrieval
`network`	route, unroute, requests	Network interception
`state`	state_save, state_load, cookies_set, storage_set, credentials	Browser state manipulation
`interact`	hover, focus, drag, press, keydown, keyup, mousemove, mousedown, mouseup, wheel, dispatch	Low-level interactions

Policy Evaluation

When an action is requested, the policy is evaluated in this order:

Internal actions - Always allowed (launch, close, session management, etc.)
Explicit deny - If category is in deny list, action is denied
Confirmation required - If category is in --confirm-actions, prompt user (if interactive)
Explicit allow - If category is in allow list, action is allowed
Default policy - Use default value (“allow” or “deny”)

Internal Actions

These actions bypass policy checks and are always allowed:

Browser management: launch, close, tab_list, tab_switch, tab_close
Session management: session
Information: cookies_get, storage_get, state_list, state_show
Debugging: console, errors, highlight, trace_start, trace_stop
Auth: auth_save, auth_login, auth_list, auth_delete, auth_show
Confirmation: confirm, deny

Common Policy Patterns

Read-Only Agent

Allow only inspection, no interaction:

{
  "default": "deny",
  "allow": ["navigate", "get", "snapshot", "scroll", "wait"]
}

Safe Interaction Agent

Allow navigation and form filling, deny dangerous actions:

{
  "default": "allow",
  "deny": ["eval", "download", "upload", "network", "state"]
}

Minimal Permissions

Only essential actions:

{
  "default": "deny",
  "allow": ["navigate", "click", "fill", "get", "snapshot"]
}

Development Mode

Allow everything except eval:

{
  "default": "allow",
  "deny": ["eval"]
}

Action Confirmation

Require explicit user approval for sensitive action categories:

# Require confirmation for eval and download
agent-browser \
  --confirm-actions eval,download \
  --confirm-interactive \
  open example.com

Confirmation Flow

When an action requires confirmation:

Agent requests the action
CLI prompts user with action details
User approves (confirm) or denies (deny)
Action proceeds or is rejected

Example:

# Agent tries to evaluate JavaScript
agent-browser eval "console.log('test')"

# User sees prompt:
# Action requires confirmation:
#   Category: eval
#   Action: Evaluate JavaScript: console.log('test')
# 
# Approve this action?
#   agent-browser confirm
#   agent-browser deny

# User approves
agent-browser confirm

# Action executes

Interactive vs Non-Interactive

Interactive mode (--confirm-interactive): Prompts user via CLI
Non-interactive mode: Auto-denies if stdin is not a TTY

This prevents hanging in CI/CD environments.

Confirmation Categories

Common categories to require confirmation:

eval - JavaScript execution (high risk)
download - File downloads (data exfiltration risk)
upload - File uploads (may leak local files)
network - Network interception (can modify responses)
state - State manipulation (can steal cookies)

Hot Reloading

Policy files are automatically reloaded every 5 seconds. Update the policy without restarting the browser:

# Start with initial policy
agent-browser --action-policy ./policy.json open example.com

# Edit policy.json
vi policy.json

# Policy is automatically reloaded
# Next action uses new policy (within 5 seconds)

This enables dynamic policy adjustment during agent sessions.

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Example
`AGENT_BROWSER_ACTION_POLICY`	Path to action policy JSON file	`./policy.json`
`AGENT_BROWSER_CONFIRM_ACTIONS`	Comma-separated action categories requiring confirmation	`eval,download`
`AGENT_BROWSER_CONFIRM_INTERACTIVE`	Enable interactive confirmation prompts	`true`

Configuration File

Set action policy in agent-browser.json:

{
  "actionPolicy": "./policy.json",
  "confirmActions": "eval,download",
  "confirmInteractive": true
}

Programmatic API

Check and enforce action policies programmatically:

import {
  loadPolicyFile,
  checkPolicy,
  getActionCategory,
  describeAction,
  type ActionPolicy,
  type PolicyDecision
} from 'agent-browser/action-policy';

// Load policy from file
const policy: ActionPolicy = loadPolicyFile('./policy.json');
console.log(policy);
// {
//   default: 'deny',
//   allow: ['navigate', 'click', 'fill'],
//   deny: ['eval']
// }

// Check if action is allowed
const confirmCategories = new Set(['download']);
const decision: PolicyDecision = checkPolicy('evaluate', policy, confirmCategories);
console.log(decision); // 'deny' (eval is in deny list)

const decision2 = checkPolicy('click', policy, confirmCategories);
console.log(decision2); // 'allow' (click is in allow list)

const decision3 = checkPolicy('download', policy, confirmCategories);
console.log(decision3); // 'confirm' (download requires confirmation)

// Get action category
const category = getActionCategory('fill');
console.log(category); // 'fill'

const category2 = getActionCategory('dblclick');
console.log(category2); // 'click'

// Describe action for user prompts
const description = describeAction('navigate', { url: 'https://example.com' });
console.log(description); // 'Navigate to https://example.com'

const description2 = describeAction('evaluate', { script: 'console.log("test")' });
console.log(description2); // 'Evaluate JavaScript: console.log("test")'

Auto-reloading Policy

import { initPolicyReloader, reloadPolicyIfChanged } from 'agent-browser/action-policy';

// Initialize reloader
const policy = loadPolicyFile('./policy.json');
initPolicyReloader('./policy.json', policy);

// Check for updates (max once per 5 seconds)
setInterval(() => {
  const updatedPolicy = reloadPolicyIfChanged();
  if (updatedPolicy) {
    console.log('Policy reloaded:', updatedPolicy);
  }
}, 1000);

Best Practices

1. Start with Deny-by-Default

For production agents, use deny-by-default and explicitly allow required actions:

{
  "default": "deny",
  "allow": ["navigate", "click", "fill", "get", "snapshot"]
}

2. Always Deny Eval

JavaScript evaluation is high-risk. Deny it unless absolutely necessary:

{
  "default": "allow",
  "deny": ["eval"]
}

Denying eval also prevents bypassing domain allowlist (see Domain Allowlist).

3. Require Confirmation for Downloads

Prevent data exfiltration by requiring confirmation for downloads:

agent-browser \
  --confirm-actions download \
  --confirm-interactive \
  open example.com

4. Combine with Domain Allowlist

For maximum security, use both action policy and domain allowlist:

agent-browser \
  --allowed-domains "myapp.com,*.myapp.com" \
  --action-policy ./policy.json \
  open https://myapp.com

5. Use Hot Reloading for Testing

During development, use hot reloading to adjust policies without restarting:

# Start browser with policy
agent-browser --action-policy ./policy.json open example.com

# Edit policy.json as needed
# New policy takes effect automatically

Troubleshooting

Action denied by policy

Symptom: Action fails with error like Action 'evaluate' denied by policy Solution: Add the action’s category to the allow list:

{
  "default": "deny",
  "allow": ["navigate", "click", "eval"]
}

Or change default to "allow" and only deny specific categories.

Unrecognized action category warning

Symptom: Warning like unrecognized action category "typo" in policy file Solution: Fix the typo in your policy file. Valid categories are:

navigate, click, fill, download, upload, eval, snapshot, scroll, wait, get, network, state, interact

Confirmation prompts in CI/CD

Symptom: Agent hangs waiting for confirmation in CI/CD environment Solution: Don’t use --confirm-interactive in non-interactive environments. Instead, use action policy to deny actions:

{
  "default": "allow",
  "deny": ["eval", "download"]
}

Policy file not found

Symptom: Error like ENOENT: no such file or directory Solution: Ensure the policy file path is correct (relative to current directory):

# Absolute path
agent-browser --action-policy /home/user/policy.json

# Relative path
agent-browser --action-policy ./policy.json

# Or use environment variable
export AGENT_BROWSER_ACTION_POLICY=./policy.json
agent-browser open example.com

Get Started

Core Concepts

Commands

Security

Advanced

Integrations

Guides

​Action Policies

​Quick Start

​Policy File Format

​Fields

​Action Categories

​Policy Evaluation

​Internal Actions

​Common Policy Patterns

​Read-Only Agent

​Safe Interaction Agent

​Minimal Permissions

​Development Mode

​Action Confirmation

​Confirmation Flow

​Interactive vs Non-Interactive

​Confirmation Categories

​Hot Reloading

​Environment Variables

​Configuration File

​Programmatic API

​Auto-reloading Policy

​Best Practices

​1. Start with Deny-by-Default

​2. Always Deny Eval

​3. Require Confirmation for Downloads

​4. Combine with Domain Allowlist

​5. Use Hot Reloading for Testing

​Troubleshooting

​Action denied by policy

​Unrecognized action category warning

​Confirmation prompts in CI/CD

​Policy file not found

​See Also

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love