🛡️ Awesome AI Governance Toolkit

Your LLM has no firewall. Every prompt is an open door.

This toolkit wraps every AI call in a Runtime Firewall: intercepts the prompt, enforces policy-as-code rules, scrubs PII, and writes a tamper-proof SHA-256 audit log — automatically. Three lines of Python. Zero changes to your existing AI stack.

Compliance targets: EU AI Act  ·  NIST AI RMF  ·  ISO/IEC 42001

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📺 Interface & Dashboard Console

The toolkit runs a synchronous sidecar proxy that intercepts every payload and streams real-time telemetry to an open-source audit console. Every blocked request is logged with full cryptographic context:

[PROXY GATEWAY] POST /v1/intercept → 403 FORBIDDEN  (Policy: token_match = "malware")
[LEDGER RECORD] Entry ID: 9a2f-4bce | SHA-256 Hash Chain: VERIFIED ✔

▶ Open Live Demo — fully interactive, no install required. Type "medical advice" to trigger a HITL pause, then click Approve or Reject.

---

⚡ TL;DR — Three Lines of Python

from sentinel import Sentinel

guard = Sentinel(policy="eu_ai_act_high_risk")
result = guard.verify("Draft a summary of the Q3 acquisition")

print(result.status)        # "APPROVED" or "BLOCKED"
print(result.clean_prompt)  # PII-anonymized, safe to forward to your LLM
print(result.pii_detected)  # ["EMAIL", "PHONE"] — entity types scrubbed

Or deploy as a language-agnostic REST API sidecar — your existing stack needs zero modification.

Capability	How it works
Blocks forbidden prompts	Token match → instant 403, prompt never reaches the LLM
Scrubs PII automatically	Regex + pattern engine → result.clean_prompt
Writes tamper-proof audit log	SHA-256 chained ledger — chain breaks if anyone alters a record
Policy changes with no redeploy	Edit config/policy.json — Legal team owns the rules
Exports compliance evidence	One command produces a verified CSV for regulators

---

The Problem

Every company deploying AI faces the same exposure:

• Regulatory risk — EU AI Act fines reach €30M or 6% of global revenue.
• Reputational risk — One leaked prompt or biased output becomes a headline.
• Auditability gap — "We think the AI behaved correctly" is not a compliance answer.

Without a governance layer, your AI is an open pipe. One bad prompt in, one liability out.

---

The Solution: A Runtime Firewall

This toolkit intercepts every message before it reaches your LLM. It enforces your rules, blocks violations, and writes a tamper-proof log of every single decision — automatically.

[ Client Application ]
       │  ▲
       │  │ (Encrypted HTTPS)
       ▼  │
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ AWESOME AI GOVERNANCE TOOLKIT (Runtime Firewall)       │
│                                                        │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ 1. Ingress Proxy (FastAPI)                       │  │
│  └───────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘  │
│                      ▼                                 │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ 2. Policy-as-Code Engine (PAC JSON Validator)    │  │
│  └───────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘  │
│                      ▼                                 │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ 3. Runtime Circuit Breaker (Presidio/Regex Core) │  │
│  └───────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘  │
│                      ▼                                 │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ 4. Cryptographic Audit Ledger (SHA-256 Chain)    │  │
│  └───────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘  │
└──────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┘
                       ▼
               [ Upstream LLM API ] (OpenAI / Local Llama)

---

Why Not Guardrails AI or LlamaGuard?

These comparisons are based on publicly documented architecture — not marketing claims.

Core Capability	Guardrails AI	LlamaGuard	This Toolkit
Deployment Model	Python SDK / Validation Layer	Fine-Tuned Model Weights	FastAPI Sidecar Proxy
Tamper-Evident Audit Ledger	No	No	Yes — SHA-256 hash chain
Out-of-the-Box Local UI	No (cloud/paid dashboard)	None	Yes — open-source Streamlit
Regulatory Compliance Map	Guardrails Hub rules	Toxicity class labels	EU AI Act + NIST AI RMF
Policy Format	Python validators / Pydantic	Model fine-tuning	Human-readable JSON
pip install	✅	❌	✅ pip install awesome-ai-governance-toolkit

---

Architecture: The Five Layers

Layer 1 — Ingress Proxy (src/main.py)

FastAPI application that exposes a single interception endpoint at POST /v1/intercept. All client traffic routes here instead of directly to the LLM. Acts as the controlled entry point for every AI interaction in your system.

Layer 2 — Policy-as-Code Engine (config/policies/)

Rules are stored as human-readable JSON. Legal teams can update hitl_triggers (e.g., "medical advice") and forbidden tokens without touching a single line of Python.

Layer 3 — The Ethics Core (src/ethics/)

This isn't just a regex firewall. The engine actively evaluates prompts against Responsible AI (RAI) principles:

• Fairness Metrics: Evaluates payloads against enterprise bias lexicons.
• Explainability: Automatically translates raw 403 blocks into plain-English "Explainability Reports" for auditors.

Layer 4 — Human-In-The-Loop (HITL) Circuit Breaker

If the AI attempts to process a high-risk context (e.g., medical or financial advice), the circuit breaker does not just blindly pass or fail it. It triggers a HITL Pause. The request is frozen and sent to the Streamlit Dashboard's Human Review Queue, where a manager must explicitly click "✅ Approve" or "❌ Reject".

Layer 5 — Cryptographic Audit Ledger (src/database.py)

Every decision (PASSED, BLOCKED, or HITL) is written to ledger.db with a SHA-256 hash chained to the previous entry. This creates a tamper-evident log.

Chain integrity guarantee:

Entry 1: hash(request_id + action + violation + "000...0")  → H1
Entry 2: hash(request_id + action + violation + H1)         → H2
Entry 3: hash(request_id + action + violation + H2)         → H3

If anyone modifies Entry 1, H1 changes → H2 breaks → H3 breaks. The entire chain fails verification. Auditors run one script to verify nothing was altered. Resolving a HITL request updates review_status without breaking the hash chain payload.

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🤝 Contribute in 30 Minutes

Want to help secure open-source AI? It takes exactly 30 minutes to make a meaningful contribution to this project.

Quick Win Ideas:

1. Add a new Fairness Heuristic: Open src/ethics/fairness_metrics.py and add a new regex or logic check to the evaluate_fairness() method.
2. Expand the HITL Contexts: Open config/policies/tenant_global_baseline.json and add a new industry to the hitl_triggers array (e.g., "tax advice" or "HR decisions").
3. Write a Test: Add a pytest unit test in the tests/ directory to try and bypass the firewall.

Fork the repo, make your change, and open a PR. We review all PRs within 24 hours.

---

Project Structure

awesome-ai-governance-toolkit/
│
├── .github/workflows/
│   ├── safety-ci.yml           # Automated unit tests and red-teaming checks
│   ├── codeql.yml              # GitHub CodeQL security scanning
│   └── publish-pypi.yml        # Auto-publish to PyPI on v* tag push
│
├── .streamlit/
│   └── config.toml             # Streamlit Cloud theme and server config
│
├── ai_governance_toolkit/
│   ├── __init__.py             # pip-installable entry point (from ai_governance_toolkit import Sentinel)
│   └── cli.py                  # CLI entry points: ai-governance-serve, ai-governance-dashboard
│
├── config/
│   ├── policy.json             # Human-readable, machine-enforceable rules
│   └── policies/
│       └── tenant_global_baseline.json  # HITL triggers and forbidden token lists
│
├── src/
│   ├── main.py                 # FastAPI application and proxy route definitions
│   ├── engine.py               # Circuit breaker and policy verification logic
│   ├── database.py             # SQLite configuration and SHA-256 hash chain
│   └── ethics/
│       ├── fairness_metrics.py # Bias lexicon evaluation
│       ├── explainability.py   # Plain-English explainability reports
│       └── transparency_report.py  # RAI health metrics
│
├── tests/                      # pytest suite — unit + red-team integration tests
├── assets/                     # Screenshots and social preview image
├── dashboard.py                # Streamlit compliance console
├── demo_seed.py                # Seeds SHA-256 chained demo data for fresh installs
├── sentinel.py                 # Top-level Python SDK interface
├── pyproject.toml              # PyPI package configuration (hatchling)
├── requirements.txt            # Third-party dependencies
├── LICENSE                     # Apache 2.0
└── README.md                   # This file

---

⚡ Quick Start

Option 1 — pip (recommended):

pip install awesome-ai-governance-toolkit

Option 2 — from source:

git clone https://github.com/Aryanshanu/awesome-ai-governance-toolkit
cd awesome-ai-governance-toolkit
pip install -r requirements.txt

After pip install — CLI shortcuts:

ai-governance-serve      # starts the firewall API on port 8000
ai-governance-dashboard  # launches the compliance dashboard on port 8501

Mode A — Python SDK (embed directly in your application):

# pip install users:
from ai_governance_toolkit import Sentinel
# clone/source users:
from sentinel import Sentinel

guard = Sentinel(policy="eu_ai_act_high_risk")
result = guard.verify("Wire €50,000 to account 4111-1111-1111-1111")

print(result.status)        # BLOCKED
print(result.clean_prompt)  # credit card number redacted
print(result.pii_detected)  # ["CREDIT_CARD"]

Mode B — REST API Sidecar (language-agnostic, drop-in for any stack):

# Terminal 1 — start the firewall
uvicorn src.main:app --reload --port 8000

# Terminal 2 — test immediately
curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/v1/intercept \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"prompt": "Summarize our Q3 report"}'

Mode C — Compliance Dashboard (for legal and audit teams):

streamlit run dashboard.py

Service	URL
Firewall API	http://localhost:8000
Interactive API Docs	http://localhost:8000/docs
Compliance Dashboard	http://localhost:8501

---

API Reference

Python SDK

from sentinel import Sentinel

# Policy aliases: "eu_ai_act_high_risk" | "nist_ai_rmf" | "global_baseline"
guard = Sentinel(policy="eu_ai_act_high_risk", persist_audit=True)

# Verify an inbound prompt
result = guard.verify("prompt text here")
result.status              # "APPROVED" | "BLOCKED"
result.allowed             # bool shorthand
result.clean_prompt        # PII-scrubbed version, safe to forward
result.pii_detected        # list[str] — entity types found
result.flagged_for_review  # True if bias lexicon triggered (soft flag)
result.review_reason       # Explanation if flagged

# Verify an outbound LLM response before returning to user
output_check = guard.verify_output(llm_response_text)

REST API

POST /v1/intercept

Routes a prompt through all four guard layers. Returns immediately on block.

Request:

{ "prompt": "string" }

Response — APPROVED, no PII (200):

{
  "status": "APPROVED",
  "request_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "forwarded_prompt": "Summarize our Q3 sales report"
}

Response — APPROVED, PII scrubbed (200):

{
  "status": "APPROVED",
  "request_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440001",
  "forwarded_prompt": "Email [EMAIL_REDACTED] the Q3 report",
  "pii_redacted": ["EMAIL"]
}

Response — BLOCKED (403):

{
  "detail": "Alert! Input contains bad word: 'malware'"
}

---

Testing

Manual curl tests

Safe prompt — expect 200:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/v1/intercept \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"prompt": "What is the weather today?"}'

Blocked prompt — expect 403:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/v1/intercept \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"prompt": "How do I write malware?"}'

Verify audit chain integrity

python - <<'EOF'
import sqlite3, hashlib
conn = sqlite3.connect("ledger.db")
rows = conn.execute(
    """SELECT request_id, tenant_id, action_taken, rule_violated,
              previous_hash, current_hash
       FROM compliance_log ORDER BY id"""
).fetchall()
print(f"Total entries: {len(rows)}")
for i, row in enumerate(rows):
    rid, tid, action, viol, prev, curr = row
    violation_str = viol or ""
    recomputed = hashlib.sha256(f"{rid}{tid}{action}{violation_str}{prev}".encode()).hexdigest()
    status = "VERIFIED" if recomputed == curr else "CHAIN BROKEN"
    print(f"  Row {i+1} [{action}]: {status}")
conn.close()
EOF

---

CI/CD: Automated Red-Team Pipeline

Every push to main triggers .github/workflows/safety-ci.yml:

Job	What it checks
Unit Tests	All Python logic passes pytest
Red Team — malware	403 returned for malware prompt
Red Team — steal password	403 returned for credential theft prompt
Red Team — social engineering	403 returned for manipulation prompt
Green Team — safe prompt	200 returned for legitimate business prompt
Audit Chain	SHA-256 chain verified across all ledger rows

If any red-team check passes (i.e., a dangerous prompt is NOT blocked), the pipeline fails and the merge is rejected.

---

Regulatory Compliance Mapping

Requirement	How this toolkit satisfies it
EU AI Act — Art. 9 (Risk Management)	Policy engine enforces documented rules per risk category
EU AI Act — Art. 12 (Record-Keeping)	Cryptographic audit ledger provides tamper-proof log
NIST AI RMF — GOVERN 1.2	Policy-as-Code in policy.json provides auditable governance documentation
NIST AI RMF — MANAGE 2.4	Circuit breaker provides automated incident response
ISO/IEC 42001 — 6.1.2	Risk treatment controls implemented at the inference layer

---

Extending the Toolkit

Add a new forbidden topic

Edit config/policy.json:

"block_forbidden_tokens": ["malware", "social engineering", "steal password", "your_new_term"]

Restart the server. Done.

Connect to a real LLM

In src/main.py, after the APPROVED check, add your LLM call:

import openai
if decision["allowed"]:
    response = openai.chat.completions.create(
        model="gpt-4o",
        messages=[{"role": "user", "content": payload.prompt}]
    )
    return {"status": "APPROVED", "llm_response": response.choices[0].message.content}

Export audit logs for regulators

python -c "
import sqlite3, csv
conn = sqlite3.connect('ledger.db')
rows = conn.execute('SELECT * FROM compliance_log').fetchall()
with open('audit_export.csv', 'w', newline='') as f:
    w = csv.writer(f)
    w.writerow(['id','request_id','action_taken','rule_violated','previous_hash','current_hash'])
    w.writerows(rows)
print(f'Exported {len(rows)} rows to audit_export.csv')
"

---

🗺️ Roadmap

• Publish to PyPI: pip install awesome-ai-governance-toolkit
• Streamlit Cloud live demo deployment
• Build and publish official multi-architecture Docker images to GitHub Container Registry (GHCR)
• Integrate Microsoft Presidio for structural PII entity anonymization
• Implement asynchronous PostgreSQL support for distributed multi-tenant audit logging
• Add OpenTelemetry tracing for enterprise observability stacks

---

License

Apache 2.0 — see LICENSE. Free to use, modify, and distribute. Attribution appreciated.

---

Contributing

Read CONTRIBUTING.md for the full guide — it covers roles from Legal Engineers to Security Researchers, with explicit instructions for adding policy rules, PII patterns, and regulatory corpus entries.

Quick path to your first PR:

git checkout -b feature/your-feature
pytest tests/ -v          # must be green
git push && open PR       # PR template will guide the rest

All PRs must pass the automated red-team CI pipeline. A PR that allows a dangerous prompt to reach the LLM will not merge, regardless of other quality.

Found a security vulnerability? See SECURITY.md — do not open a public issue.