setup · diff
git:20260702.0fd73be to git:20260924.03eda53
20 added, 16 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: setup
description: Set up and verify AgentGuards in Codex. Use when the user asks to configure AgentGuards, set their API key, or check that the guardrails are wired up correctly.
---
# AgentGuards setup
Guide the user through finishing AgentGuards setup after installing the plugin.
- The plugin already bundles the MCP server and the enforcing hooks — the only
- thing the user must supply is their API key.
+ The plugin already bundles the enforcing hooks — the only thing the user must
+ supply is their API key.
## Steps
- 1. **Check for the API key.** Look for the `AGENTGUARDS_API_KEY` environment
- variable. If it is missing or does not start with `ag_`, tell the user to:
+ 1. **Check for the API key.** The hooks use the first of: the
+ `AGENTGUARDS_API_KEY` environment variable, `~/.codex/agentguards_token`,
+ then `~/.agentguards/credentials.json`. If none holds a key starting with
+ `ag_`, the easiest fix is the AgentGuards CLI: `agentguards login` signs in
+ through the browser and saves the key where the hooks read it (install the
+ CLI from https://agentguards.co if it isn't there). Otherwise, tell the user
+ to:
- Get a key from the dashboard at https://agentguards.co/dashboard/keys
- - Export it so both the MCP server and the hooks can read it. For the current
- shell and future sessions, add to their shell profile
- (`~/.bashrc`, `~/.zshrc`, etc.):
+ - Export it so the hooks can read it. For the current shell and future
+ sessions, add to their shell profile (`~/.bashrc`, `~/.zshrc`, etc.):
```
export AGENTGUARDS_API_KEY=ag_your_token_here
```
- - Restart Codex (or start a new session) so the MCP server and hooks pick up
- the key from the environment.
+ - Restart Codex (or start a new session) so the hooks pick up the key.
2. **Confirm the URL (optional).** AgentGuards defaults to
`https://prod.agentguards.co`. Only set `AGENTGUARDS_URL` if the user runs a
self-hosted instance.
3. **Fail-open vs fail-closed.** The hooks fail **closed** by default — if the
AgentGuards service is unreachable, actions are blocked. A user who prefers
availability over strict enforcement can set `AGENTGUARDS_FAIL_OPEN=true`.
Mention this only if they ask or report unexpected blocks.
- 4. **Verify.** Call the AgentGuards `health_check` tool from the `agentguards`
- MCP server. Report whether the service is reachable and which key prefix is
- active. If it fails, the most common cause is `AGENTGUARDS_API_KEY` not being
- exported in the environment Codex was launched from.
+ 4. **Verify.** Run the checks in the `status` skill yourself: they prove the key
+ is **accepted** (HTTP 200), not just present. If it fails, the most common
+ cause is `AGENTGUARDS_API_KEY` not being exported in the environment Codex
+ was launched from.
- 5. **Summarize what is now active:** UserPromptSubmit input scanning, PreToolUse
- shell-command authorization, PostToolUse web-content scanning, and the
- `check_input` / `authorize_action` MCP tools.
+ 5. **Summarize what is now active:** prompt screening, shell-command
+ authorization (with Codex's approval prompt for anything borderline),
+ scanning of content fetched by shell commands, and security scanning of
+ `apply_patch` edits.