Proof Demo Guide

The Proof Demo is a short, repeatable flow that shows decision assurance in action: a decision happens, an audit record is written, and you can export cryptographic evidence—all in under 3 minutes.

No sales call. No sign-up. Just click, trigger, and download proof.

What it demonstrates

• Creating rules and policies via the Guardrails API
• Triggering an authorization decision via /authorize
• Fetching the linked audit record with hash-chain verification
• Exporting a JSON proof artifact you can inspect independently

This is the core loop: policy → decision → evidence.

The 4-step flow

1. Create Rule — Define what’s allowed. The rule is recorded in the audit chain.
2. Decision Occurs — An /authorize request is evaluated against the policy.
3. Audit Recorded — The decision (allow or deny) is written to the tamper-evident chain.
4. Evidence Available — Download a JSON artifact that proves the decision happened as recorded.

Evidence file contents

The downloaded JSON is intentionally minimal—it’s a receipt, not a data dump. It ties together:

• rule_id — the rule that was evaluated
• policy_id — the policy context
• actor_id / actor_type — who made the request
• timestamp — when the decision occurred
• The audit record payload, including hash and chain fields (if cryptographic mode is enabled)

This artifact can be verified without the UI. If the hashes check out, the record is intact.

Troubleshooting

403 Denied by policy

The API runs in default-deny mode. If no policy explicitly allows the action, it’s denied—and that denial is recorded. Create an allow policy before trying the demo, or run in bootstrap mode.

No events in streams

Streams only show what the backend emits. Ensure you’re running a backend version that emits Rule/Policy CRUD audit events. Check the API Reference for stream endpoints.

Verification fails

If /audit-logs/verify returns ok: false, the chain has been tampered with or records are missing. This is the system working as intended—broken chains are visible.

Try it yourself

• Live demo: /proof-demo
• Selective disclosure: /proof-bundle-demo — Merkle proofs and partial reveals

Next steps

• Cryptographic Audit Chains — how hash linking and signatures work
• API Reference — the endpoints behind the demo
• Getting Started — run the full stack locally