# π The Agent Governor β how to use it
> Back to the README Β· the full release entry β CHANGELOG.
**You set the rules once. Your AI agents run inside them 24/7. You get pinged only for the few decisions that are genuinely irreversible.** Mneme is the *governance kernel* that sits **under** your orchestrator (Claude Code Β· Cursor Β· Astra Β· Tycoon Β· AutoGen): it **decides Β· sequences Β· escalates Β· compensates** β your orchestrator does the actual work, per the verdicts.
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## π For the owner / CEO β you never touch a terminal
Say one sentence to the AI agent you already use:
> *"Set up a Mneme governance charter for **<our mission>**, scope **<which folders/systems>**, budget **<N>** actions, and never **<the things that always need me>** (e.g. post publicly, touch production, spend money) β then govern every agent action through it."*
From then on, every action your agents take is gated into one of **four verdicts**:
| Verdict | What happens |
|---|---|
| π’ **ALLOW_AUTONOMOUS** | runs immediately, no human needed |
| π‘ **ALLOW_WITH_AUDIT** | runs, but flagged for a later glance |
| β **ESCALATE_HUMAN** | **waits for you** β the only thing you review |
| π **BLOCK** | refused (forbidden by your charter) |
You approve only the **β escalations** (a chat/phone ping). Everything safe and reversible flows while you sleep. That is "1 founder + a fleet of agents" β **safe, accountable, and provable.**
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## β¨οΈ The commands (if you'd rather type them)
```bash
# 1) create a charter (mission Β· scope Β· risk envelope Β· budget Β· forbidden)
mneme govern charter-init > charter.json # then edit it
# 2) govern ONE action β π’/π‘/β/π (exit 2 if not autonomous)
mneme govern decide --charter charter.json --action '{"id":"a1","kind":"edit","summary":"refactor auth","files":["src/auth/x.ts"],"signals":{"commandRisk":"write","driftBand":"STABLE"}}'
# 3) run a whole fleet's queue as a continuous AUTO-OPERATION BATCH
mneme govern batch --charter charter.json --actions queue.jsonl
# β π’ N autonomous Β· π‘ N audited Β· β N escalated Β· π N blocked (+ circuit-breaker)
# 4) evolve the autonomy envelope from evidence (Living Charter)
mneme govern amend --charter charter.json --clean 20 --regretted 0
# β π widen readβwrite after a clean record Β· π narrow on a regret
```
`queue.jsonl` is one action per line: `{"id","kind","summary","files":[β¦],"reversible":true,"inverse":{β¦},"tokensEst":N,"signals":{β¦}}`.
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## π€ For AI agents β the real wiring (this is how it becomes turnkey)
You already run **CERBERUS** (command risk), **CRUCIBLE** (shadow build/test), **TELOS** (mission drift), **REGRET** (outcome calibration) and **ELLEIPSIS** (completeness) as Mneme tools. The Governor **folds those signals into one decision** β so before a non-trivial action:
1. Gather the signals you have for the action (`commandRisk`, `irreversible`, `shadowVerdict`, `driftBand`, `regretBand`, `completeness`, out-of-scope paths).
2. Call **`mneme.govern.decide { charter, action: { β¦, signals } }`**.
- π’ `ALLOW_AUTONOMOUS` β do it.
- π‘ `ALLOW_WITH_AUDIT` β do it, record for review.
- β `ESCALATE_HUMAN` β **stop, ask the human.**
- π `BLOCK` β refuse.
3. For a queue / sub-agent fleet, call **`mneme.govern.batch { charter, actions[] }`** and act on the report (only the escalations need a person).
**Charter shape:** `{ mission, scopeGlobs[], riskEnvelope: "read"|"write"|"destructive", budget: { maxActions, maxTokens? }, forbidden[] }`.
Every verdict is **Ed25519-signed** (`_proof`) β verify it offline; nothing has to be trusted on faith.
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## β
The mechanical guarantees
- **THE SAFETY INVARIANT:** an action that is **irreversible / destructive / out-of-scope / over-budget / forbidden / mission-drift-divergent / failed-its-shadow-build** can **never** be `ALLOW_AUTONOMOUS`. (Proven exhaustively in `governorGauntlet()`.)
- **SAGA auto-compensation** β if a multi-step batch half-fails, the executed **reversible** steps are reversed automatically (newest-first). Irreversible steps can't be auto-undone β which is exactly why they were escalated to you up front.
- **Circuit-breaker** β if the fleet's mission drift goes `DIVERGENT` (TELOS) or the regret rate spikes, the **whole fleet pauses** and escalates.
- **Living Charter** β the autonomy envelope **widens** after a long clean record and **narrows** on a regret. It never auto-widens to `destructive`; you ratify every amendment.
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## π Honest limits (DIAKRISIS)
- Mneme is the **kernel, not the executor** β it decides/sequences/escalates/compensates; your orchestrator runs the work.
- The verdict is only as good as the **signals** fed in (the gates that produced them).
- **"Fully autonomous"** here means the safe/reversible/in-envelope flow runs untouched while only the genuinely-irreversible escalates β autonomy bounded by a **mechanical, signed envelope**, never by Mneme installing or running anything behind your back.
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*CLI: `mneme govern β¦` Β· MCP: `mneme.govern.decide` / `mneme.govern.batch` (orchestrator-agnostic, self-attesting).*