Agent skill
guardrails-ai-setup
Guardrails AI validation framework setup for LLM applications. Implement input/output validation, safety checks, and structured output enforcement.
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npx add-skill https://github.com/a5c-ai/babysitter/tree/main/library/specializations/ai-agents-conversational/skills/guardrails-ai-setup
SKILL.md
guardrails-ai-setup
Configure Guardrails AI validation framework to ensure LLM outputs meet quality, safety, and structural requirements. Implement validators for input sanitization, output format enforcement, and safety constraints.
Overview
Guardrails AI provides:
- Input validation before LLM calls
- Output validation after LLM responses
- Structured output enforcement (JSON, XML, etc.)
- Pre-built validators from Guardrails Hub
- Custom validator creation
- Automatic retry and correction mechanisms
Capabilities
Input Validation
- Sanitize user inputs
- Detect prompt injection attempts
- Validate input formats and lengths
- Check for PII before processing
Output Validation
- Enforce structured output schemas
- Validate content accuracy
- Check for harmful content
- Verify factual consistency
Safety Constraints
- Content moderation
- Toxicity detection
- Bias checking
- Hallucination detection
Integration Features
- LangChain integration
- Streaming support
- Automatic retries
- Correction strategies
Usage
Basic Setup
from guardrails import Guard
from guardrails.hub import ValidJson, ToxicLanguage, DetectPII
# Create guard with validators
guard = Guard().use_many(
ValidJson(),
ToxicLanguage(on_fail="fix"),
DetectPII(on_fail="fix")
)
# Use with LLM
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
llm = ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4")
result = guard(
llm,
prompt="Generate a product description for a laptop",
max_tokens=500
)
print(result.validated_output)
Schema-Based Validation
from guardrails import Guard
from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
from typing import List
class ProductReview(BaseModel):
"""Schema for product review output."""
rating: int = Field(ge=1, le=5, description="Rating from 1-5")
summary: str = Field(max_length=200, description="Brief summary")
pros: List[str] = Field(min_items=1, max_items=5)
cons: List[str] = Field(min_items=1, max_items=5)
recommendation: bool
# Create guard from schema
guard = Guard.from_pydantic(ProductReview)
result = guard(
llm,
prompt="""Analyze this product and provide a structured review:
Product: Wireless Noise-Canceling Headphones
Price: $299
Features: 30hr battery, ANC, Bluetooth 5.3
""",
)
# Result is a validated ProductReview instance
review = result.validated_output
print(f"Rating: {review.rating}")
print(f"Summary: {review.summary}")
Using Guardrails Hub Validators
from guardrails import Guard
from guardrails.hub import (
CompetitorCheck,
ProfanityFree,
ReadingTime,
RestrictToTopic,
SensitiveTopic,
ToxicLanguage,
ValidJson,
ValidLength
)
# Install validators from hub
# guardrails hub install hub://guardrails/toxic_language
# Compose multiple validators
guard = Guard().use_many(
ValidJson(on_fail="reask"),
ToxicLanguage(threshold=0.8, on_fail="fix"),
ProfanityFree(on_fail="fix"),
ValidLength(min=100, max=1000, on_fail="reask"),
RestrictToTopic(
valid_topics=["technology", "software"],
on_fail="reask"
)
)
Custom Validators
from guardrails import Validator, register_validator
from guardrails.validators import ValidationResult
@register_validator(name="custom/no-urls", data_type="string")
class NoURLs(Validator):
"""Validator that checks for URLs in text."""
def validate(self, value: str, metadata: dict) -> ValidationResult:
import re
url_pattern = r'https?://\S+'
if re.search(url_pattern, value):
return ValidationResult(
outcome="fail",
error_message="Text contains URLs which are not allowed",
fix_value=re.sub(url_pattern, "[URL REMOVED]", value)
)
return ValidationResult(outcome="pass")
# Use custom validator
guard = Guard().use(NoURLs(on_fail="fix"))
Prompt Injection Defense
from guardrails import Guard
from guardrails.hub import DetectPromptInjection
# Create input guard for prompt injection
input_guard = Guard().use(
DetectPromptInjection(
on_fail="exception",
threshold=0.9
)
)
def safe_chat(user_input: str) -> str:
# Validate input first
try:
input_guard.validate(user_input)
except Exception as e:
return "I cannot process that request."
# Process safe input
return llm.invoke(user_input)
Integration with NeMo Guardrails
from guardrails import Guard
from nemoguardrails import LLMRails, RailsConfig
# Combine Guardrails AI with NeMo Guardrails
config = RailsConfig.from_path("./config")
rails = LLMRails(config)
# Use Guardrails AI for structured output
output_guard = Guard.from_pydantic(OutputSchema)
async def guarded_chat(user_input: str) -> dict:
# NeMo handles dialogue safety
response = await rails.generate_async(
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": user_input}]
)
# Guardrails AI validates structure
validated = output_guard.validate(response["content"])
return validated.validated_output
Task Definition
const guardrailsAISetupTask = defineTask({
name: 'guardrails-ai-setup',
description: 'Configure Guardrails AI validation for LLM application',
inputs: {
outputSchema: { type: 'object', required: false },
validators: { type: 'array', required: true },
onFailStrategy: { type: 'string', default: 'reask' }, // 'reask', 'fix', 'exception', 'filter'
maxRetries: { type: 'number', default: 3 },
enableInputValidation: { type: 'boolean', default: true },
enableOutputValidation: { type: 'boolean', default: true }
},
outputs: {
guardConfigured: { type: 'boolean' },
validatorsInstalled: { type: 'array' },
artifacts: { type: 'array' }
},
async run(inputs, taskCtx) {
return {
kind: 'skill',
title: 'Configure Guardrails AI validation',
skill: {
name: 'guardrails-ai-setup',
context: {
outputSchema: inputs.outputSchema,
validators: inputs.validators,
onFailStrategy: inputs.onFailStrategy,
maxRetries: inputs.maxRetries,
enableInputValidation: inputs.enableInputValidation,
enableOutputValidation: inputs.enableOutputValidation,
instructions: [
'Install Guardrails AI package and hub validators',
'Define output schema if structured output needed',
'Configure selected validators with failure strategies',
'Set up input validation for prompt injection defense',
'Configure output validation for content safety',
'Implement retry logic with correction strategies',
'Test validation pipeline with sample inputs/outputs',
'Document validation rules and expected behaviors'
]
}
},
io: {
inputJsonPath: `tasks/${taskCtx.effectId}/input.json`,
outputJsonPath: `tasks/${taskCtx.effectId}/result.json`
}
};
}
});
Applicable Processes
- system-prompt-guardrails
- prompt-injection-defense
- content-moderation-safety
- chatbot-design-implementation
External Dependencies
- guardrails-ai Python package
- Guardrails Hub account (for hub validators)
- LLM provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.)
- Optional: NeMo Guardrails for dialogue safety
References
- Guardrails AI GitHub
- Guardrails AI Documentation
- Guardrails Hub
- NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails
- OpenAI Guardrails Python
Related Skills
- SK-SAF-001 content-moderation-api
- SK-SAF-003 nemo-guardrails
- SK-SAF-004 prompt-injection-detector
- SK-SAF-005 pii-redaction
Related Agents
- AG-SAF-001 safety-auditor
- AG-SAF-002 prompt-injection-defender
- AG-PE-001 system-prompt-engineer
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