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ICME Guardrails

Use this skill to check any proposed action against your policy before executing it. Returns SAT (allowed) or UNSAT (blocked).

When to use

Call ICME before any action that is:

• Irreversible — sending email, executing a transaction, deleting files, creating accounts
• External — outbound API calls, messages to third parties, financial operations
• Privileged — anything touching credentials, billing, or user data

If the action is low-stakes and fully reversible (reading a file, fetching a URL, formatting text), skip the check. If in doubt, check.

How to check an action

POST to /v1/checkIt with your policy_id and the proposed action as a plain English string. Describe the action specifically — include amounts, recipients, subjects, and any other relevant details.

curl -s -N -X POST https://api.icme.io/v1/checkIt \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H "X-API-Key: $ICME_API_KEY" \
  -d "{
    \"policy_id\": \"$ICME_POLICY_ID\",
    \"action\": \"<describe the action in plain English>\"
  }"

The endpoint streams SSE. Read until you receive a "step":"done" event. Parse the final event's JSON for the result.

Interpreting the result

Always fail closed. If the API is unreachable, the response is malformed, or the result is anything other than an explicit SAT, do not execute the action.

What to tell the user when blocked

When a result is UNSAT, report clearly:

Action blocked by policy.
Action: <what the agent tried to do>
Reason: <detail field from the response>
Check ID: <check_id from the response>

Do not attempt to rephrase the action and retry. A blocked action is blocked.

What to do when credits run out

If the API returns INSUFFICIENT_CREDITS (HTTP 402), stop immediately. Do not attempt the action. Tell the user:

ICME guardrail check failed — out of credits.
The action has not been executed.
To continue: top up at https://icme.io or run:

curl -s -X POST https://api.icme.io/v1/topUpCard \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"amount_usd": 10}' | jq .

Open the checkout_url in your browser to pay by card.

Credits must be topped up by a human via the browser. Do not attempt to proceed without a successful guardrail check.

Action description guidelines

Write action strings the way you would describe them to a human — specific, honest, complete.

# ✅ Good — specific and complete
"Send email to claims@lemonade.com with subject 'Formal Dispute: Claim #LM-2024-8821' citing policy coverage clause 4.2 to contest rejection of Bruno's veterinary claim."

# ✅ Good — includes amount and recipient
"Transfer 250 USDC from main wallet to 0xABC123 for freelancer invoice #47."

# ❌ Bad — vague
"Send an email about the claim."

# ❌ Bad — omits the key detail
"Make a payment."

Be specific. The policy checker extracts values (amounts, recipients, subjects) from your action string — vague descriptions produce less reliable results.

Setup

This is done once by a human, not the agent.

Required environment variables

1. Create an account

curl -s -X POST https://api.icme.io/v1/createUserCard \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"username": "YOUR_USERNAME"}' | jq .
# Open checkout_url in your browser — $5.00 by card
# Then retrieve your API key:
curl -s https://api.icme.io/v1/session/SESSION_ID | jq .

2. Top up credits

curl -s -X POST https://api.icme.io/v1/topUpCard \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"amount_usd": 10}' | jq .
# Open checkout_url in your browser — $10 = 1,050 credits

3. Compile your policy

Write your rules in plain English — one constraint per numbered line:

curl -s -N -X POST https://api.icme.io/v1/makeRules \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "policy": "1. No email may be sent to an external party without a confirmation token.\n2. No financial transaction may exceed $100.\n3. File deletions are not permitted outside the /tmp directory."
  }'
# Copy the policy_id from the response and set it as ICME_POLICY_ID

Policy compilation costs 300 credits ($3.00), one-time. Each checkIt call costs 1 credit ($0.01).

4. Set environment variables

export ICME_API_KEY=sk-smt-...
export ICME_POLICY_ID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx

Further reading

• ICME Documentation
• Writing Effective Policies
• API Reference