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Presets

A preset is a starting bar for a repository. Pick one, then override any key you want. /guardrails:setup measures the repository and recommends one.

# .guardrails.yaml
version: 1
preset: adopt
strict (default) standard adopt
For New or already-clean repos Repos close to the bar Existing repos well below the bar
Total coverage of touched packages 90% 80% no floor
Go per-package floor 80% 70% no floor
Coverage of lines changed this session 90% 80% 80%
Ratchet (never below where the session started) on on on

Everything else — linters, type checkers, scanners, the policy guards and the dependency check — is the same in every preset.

strict

The full bar on every turn. Right for new code and for repositories that already meet it; the default when there is no config.

standard

The same checks with a lower coverage bar. Right for repositories within about 10 points of strict, or teams that find 90% too costly for the code they write.

adopt

Don't get worse, and test what you touch. For an existing repository well below the bar, strict would block on every turn over debt Claude didn't create. adopt drops the absolute coverage floors and keeps the two rules that stop things getting worse:

  • The ratchet. No touched package may end below the coverage it had when the session started. Each passing gate raises the baseline, so coverage only goes up.
  • Patch coverage. 80% of the lines Claude changes in the session must be run by a test, so new code arrives tested.

Pre-existing lint issues and coverage gaps in code Claude didn't touch never block, in any preset.

Overriding keys

A preset only sets defaults. Any key in .guardrails.yaml or the user-wide ~/.config/guardrails/config.yaml overrides it:

version: 1
preset: standard
go:
  patch_coverage: 90   # standard's bar, but hold new code to 90%

The layers, each overriding the one before, key by key:

  1. Built-in defaults.
  2. The preset.
  3. ~/.config/guardrails/config.yaml.
  4. The repository's .guardrails.yaml.

guardrails config prints the result. See Configuration for every key.

Moving up

Presets are meant to be outgrown. Once total coverage is within about 10 points of the next bar — /guardrails:status shows it — change preset: adopt to standard, then standard to strict. .guardrails.yaml is yours to edit; Claude can propose the change but can't make it.