Change the rules

Read this when

The one-command allows are not enough, for example a pattern, a read-only folder or a rule of your own.

Your policy is ~/.moat/policy.yaml. Most changes need no editing at all:

You want	Run
Read and write a folder	moat allow --dir <folder>
Reach a host	moat allow --site <host>
Allow the command you were just asked about	moat allow --last --always
Take one of those back	moat allow --remove <id>

Edit the policy

moat edit

It opens the policy in $VISUAL or $EDITOR. When you close the editor it checks the policy, shows the diff and asks Apply? [y/N]. A policy with errors is never written, and the previous version is kept in ~/.moat/policy.yaml.bak.

Example: read-only access to every repo under a folder

allow:
  - id: work-repos-read
    reason: reference code the agent may read
    fs.read: ["~/work/acme/**"]

Example: always ask before deploying

ask:
  - id: deploys
    reason: deploys reach production
    shell: ["npm run deploy*", "fly deploy*"]

Rules are tried in the order deny → allow → ask, and across one command the strictest answer wins. A deny cannot be overridden by an allow.

Edit by hand

$EDITOR ~/.moat/policy.yaml
moat policy lint      # schema, ids, globs; warnings for rules that can never match
moat                  # shows what changed and asks you to accept it

Until you accept, every call is denied

OpenMoat pins the policy. A change no person accepted looks like tampering, so every call is denied with kernel-integrity until you run moat (or moat doctor --accept). moat edit and moat allow re-pin for you.

The full policy language and the default policy are in POLICY.md.