> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.orq.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Guardrail Rules | AI Gateway

> Configure guardrail rules in the AI Gateway to validate and control LLM requests and responses with evaluators triggered by CEL conditions.

Guardrail Rules define conditions under which evaluators are applied to requests passing through the [**AI Gateway**](/docs/ai-gateway/get-started/introduction). A guardrail is only triggered when its rule conditions are matched, not on every request.

## Use cases

Guardrail rules are most useful when the same safety or compliance check needs to apply consistently across many requests.

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Add jailbreak protection to all customer-facing banking traffic" icon="shield">
    Runs a jailbreak detection [**Evaluator**](/docs/evaluators/build) on all customer-facing requests at the gateway level, adding an extra security layer across **AI Gateway** traffic.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Enforce GDPR PII checks across the entire workspace" icon="lock">
    Enforces GDPR compliance by running PII detection on all matching requests workspace-wide from a single rule.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Validate customer detail access for the sales team" icon="users">
    Validates customer detail access for the sales team by calling an external [**Evaluator**](/docs/evaluators/build) on every matching request before it reaches the model.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Monitor tone of voice across all company traffic" icon="waveform">
    Applies a tone of voice [**Evaluator**](/docs/evaluators/build) at the gateway level so every response is checked against the company's tone guidelines.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Apply EU AI Act compliance checks to EU-routed requests" icon="scale-balanced">
    Runs a compliance [**Evaluator**](/docs/evaluators/build) on EU-routed requests only, scoped using the Rule Builder so the guardrail applies exactly where it is needed without affecting other traffic.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Run safety and quality checks on targeted traffic using metadata" icon="robot">
    Runs jailbreak detection and response relevance [**Evaluators**](/docs/evaluators/build) at 50% sample rate each, scoped to specific traffic using a metadata condition in the Rule Builder.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Visibility

* **Global rules**: visible to workspace administrators only.
* **Project rules**: visible to all members of the scoped project.

## Creating a guardrail rule

From the **Guardrail Rules** list, click <kbd className="key"><Icon icon="circle-plus" color="#fff" /> Add New Rule</kbd>. A panel opens on the right with the following fields.

<Frame caption="Create Guardrail Rule panel in the AI Gateway.">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/orqai/dycyWau_l9E63fTw/images/guardrail-rule-create.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=dycyWau_l9E63fTw&q=85&s=ab8de239478b0add2f9c33961145aa77" alt="Create Guardrail Rule" width="1525" height="1217" data-path="images/guardrail-rule-create.png" />
</Frame>

### General

| Field           | Description                                                                                                   |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Rule Name**   | A display name for the guardrail rule.                                                                        |
| **Description** | Optional context for administrators.                                                                          |
| **Enable Rule** | Toggle to activate or deactivate the rule. When enabled, the rule is active and applied to matching requests. |

### Evaluators

Select the [**Evaluators**](/docs/evaluators/build) to run when this rule is triggered. Click <kbd className="key"><Icon icon="circle-plus" color="#fff" /> Add</kbd> to attach one or more evaluators from the scoped project.

### Execution settings

| Field       | Description                                                                                                         |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Timeout** | Maximum time in seconds allowed for the guardrail to complete. If the timeout is reached, the guardrail is skipped. |

### Rule Builder

The Rule Builder constructs the match conditions that determine when the guardrail is triggered. Clicking <kbd className="key"><Icon icon="circle-plus" color="#fff" /> Add</kbd> opens a dropdown with the following condition types:

| Condition    | Description                                |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------------ |
| **Header**   | Match on a request header name and value.  |
| **Model**    | Match on the model being called.           |
| **Identity** | Match on the identity making the request.  |
| **Metadata** | Match on metadata attached to the request. |
| **Project**  | Match on the project scope of the request. |

You can also click **Add group** to nest conditions into a logical group. Multiple conditions within a group are joined with `and`. Groups themselves can be joined with either `and` or `or`. Select the operator between groups to control how they combine. Each condition can be removed with <kbd><Icon icon="xmark" /></kbd>.

The builder generates a CEL (Common Expression Language) expression shown read-only in the **CEL Expression Preview** below. The guardrail is only triggered when the expression evaluates to true.