Constitution Schema

The constitution is a set of YAML rules that gate agent actions before any LLM or tool execution.

The shipped default.yaml uses default_enforcement: allow. When no constitution is loaded, the code default is block (deny-by-default).

YAML Schema

name: string                    # Constitution name (required)
version: string                 # Semantic version (required)
description: string             # Human-readable description (optional)
default_enforcement: string     # Enforcement for unmatched intents [default: block]

rules:
  - name: string                # Rule name (required)
    description: string         # Human-readable description (optional)
    enforcement: string         # Action when rule matches (required)

    # Trigger conditions (at least one category should be non-empty)
    trigger_actions:            # W5H2 actions that trigger this rule
      - string
    trigger_targets:            # W5H2 targets that trigger this rule
      - string
    trigger_keywords:           # Keywords in query text that trigger this rule
      - string

    reason: string              # Why this rule exists (optional)

# Additional fields (optional)
channel_permissions: object     # Per-channel permission overrides
browser_stealth: object         # Browser stealth configuration
swarm_config: object            # Swarm execution configuration
ollama_config: object           # Local Ollama model configuration
captcha_solver: object          # Captcha solving configuration

Enforcement Levels

Level	Behavior	Allowed
`block`	Silently block the action. No LLM call, no tool execution.	No
`warn`	Allow the action but log a warning.	Yes
`confirm`	Require user confirmation before proceeding. In non-interactive contexts (chain execution, server), this blocks the action.	No
`allow`	Allow unconditionally.	Yes

Rule Matching

Rules are evaluated in order. The first matching rule determines the enforcement. If no rule matches, default_enforcement applies.

Action/Target Matching

A rule with trigger_actions fires when the classified W5H2 intent’s action matches any entry in the list. Matching is case-insensitive.

If trigger_targets is also specified, both the action and target must match. If trigger_targets is empty, any target matches.

The wildcard "*" matches any action or target.

Keyword Matching

A rule with trigger_keywords fires when the raw query text contains any of the specified keywords (case-insensitive substring match). Keyword matching is independent of action/target matching.

A rule can have both action/target triggers and keyword triggers. It fires if either condition is met.

The constitution also supports a pre-classification keyword check (check_query_text) that runs before W5H2 classification. This ensures cached results cannot bypass keyword-based safety rules. Only rules with trigger_keywords participate in this check.

Ability-Level Check

During chain execution, each step’s ability name is checked against constitution rules. The ability name is split at the first . to extract the action part (e.g., email.send -> action email, target send). Matching uses the same action/target logic.

Default Constitution

The built-in default constitution (name: default) ships with these rules:

Rule	Enforcement	Trigger
`block_destructive_keywords`	block	Keywords: “delete all”, “rm -rf”, “drop table”, “format disk”, “wipe”, “destroy”
`confirm_send_actions`	confirm	Action: send
`warn_control_actions`	warn	Action: control
`allow_check_actions`	allow	Action: check
`allow_add_actions`	allow	Action: add
`allow_set_reminders`	allow	Action: set; Target: reminder

Default enforcement for unmatched intents: allow (in the shipped default.yaml).

Templates

NabaOS ships 8 constitution templates for different use cases:

Template	Description
`default`	General-purpose safety defaults
`content-creator`	Content creation workflows
`dev-assistant`	Developer assistant (code/git/CI domain)
`full-autonomy`	Minimal restrictions for advanced users
`home-assistant`	Smart home (IoT/calendar domain)
`hr-assistant`	Human resources workflows
`research-assistant`	Research: papers, data analysis, experiments
`trading`	Financial markets monitoring and trading

Generate a template with:

nabaos config rules use-template trading -o my-constitution.yaml

Complete Example

name: trading-bot
version: 1.0.0
description: Constitution for a financial trading assistant
default_enforcement: block

rules:
  # Allow price checks -- read-only, safe
  - name: allow_price_checks
    enforcement: allow
    trigger_actions: [check, search, get]
    trigger_targets: [price, portfolio, market]
    trigger_keywords: []
    reason: Read-only financial queries are safe

  # Allow analysis operations
  - name: allow_analysis
    enforcement: allow
    trigger_actions: [analyze, generate, nlp, data, docs]
    trigger_targets: []
    trigger_keywords: []
    reason: Analysis operations are read-only

  # Require confirmation before executing trades
  - name: confirm_trades
    enforcement: confirm
    trigger_actions: [trading]
    trigger_targets: []
    trigger_keywords: []
    reason: Trade execution has financial consequences

  # Block access to personal data
  - name: block_personal_data
    enforcement: block
    trigger_actions: ["*"]
    trigger_targets: [email, calendar, contacts]
    trigger_keywords: []
    reason: Trading bot cannot access personal data

  # Block destructive keywords regardless of intent
  - name: block_destructive
    enforcement: block
    trigger_actions: []
    trigger_targets: []
    trigger_keywords:
      - delete all
      - wipe
      - destroy
      - rm -rf
    reason: Destructive operations are never allowed

  # Block all delete and control actions
  - name: block_delete_control
    enforcement: block
    trigger_actions: [delete, control, send]
    trigger_targets: []
    trigger_keywords: []
    reason: Trading bot has no delete, control, or send permissions

Loading

The constitution is loaded from one of three sources, in priority order:

File: NABA_CONSTITUTION_PATH environment variable points to a YAML file.
Template: NABA_CONSTITUTION_TEMPLATE environment variable selects a built-in template by name.
Default: If neither is set, the built-in default constitution is used.

The constitution is immutable at runtime – the agent cannot modify its own constitution.

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