- Does HOL Guard work without an account?
- Yes. Guard is free forever on one machine, with full protection running right on your computer. No sign-up, no credit card, and no internet connection are needed to keep your AI tool safe.
- Does Guard slow things down?
- No — a typical check takes less than 50 milliseconds. Guard runs on your own machine and never waits on the internet before your AI tool can start.
- What leaves my machine?
- Nothing, by default. Guard never sends your file contents anywhere. If you choose Guard Cloud, only a short record of what was allowed or blocked is synced — never your files, prompts, or passwords.
- Which AI tools work with Guard?
- Guard works with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, Hermes, and OpenClaw. Each one gets a small, tailored setup so Guard can check an action before it runs.
- Does it work offline?
- Yes. Guard protects you even with no internet connection. If you use Guard Cloud, it simply waits and syncs the next time you are back online.
- How is this different from Snyk, Socket, or npm audit?
- Tools like Snyk and npm audit warn you about known problems after they are already public. Guard is different: it watches what your AI is about to do and stops a risky action before it happens.
- What if Guard stops something I actually wanted?
- No problem — every block is one tap away from approval. You review what your AI wanted to do, press allow, and Guard remembers your choice for next time.
- How do I uninstall Guard?
- Run `hol-guard daemon stop`, then `pipx uninstall hol-guard`. Guard leaves nothing running in the background. Your history stays in a `~/.hol-guard` folder unless you delete it.
- Do I need to change how I work?
- No. There is nothing to change in your code or routine. Guard quietly checks what your AI is about to do and only steps in when something looks risky.
- What are MCP security tools in 2026?
- MCP security tools include scanners, gateways, and runtime controls. Scanners such as Cisco mcp-scanner and Invariant mcp-scan inspect MCP servers and configs. Cloud MCP gateways mediate MCP traffic. HOL Guard is a local-first runtime control for AI agents and the tools they use. On supported integrations, it evaluates shell commands, secret access, MCP changes, and plugin or skill installs before they run. It is not a cloud MCP gateway and not a complete prompt-injection preventer.
- What is an AI coding agent firewall?
- An AI coding agent firewall is a control that can evaluate an agent action before it has side effects. HOL Guard is a local-first runtime control for that job on supported surfaces: shell, secrets, MCP changes, and plugin or skill installs. It is not a network firewall, not a cloud MCP gateway, and not a complete prompt-injection preventer.
- What is plugin supply chain security for AI agents?
- Plugin supply-chain security scores installable plugins before they run. HOL's plugin catalog and plugin-scanner assign those scores. A scan is not a safety guarantee. The current public catalog scanner is a fallback static scan, not a live exploit test. Machine-readable snapshot: https://huggingface.co/datasets/HashgraphOnline/hol-plugin-security. Catalog plugin counts are not Registry Broker agent counts. HOL publishes this snapshot; benchmark fixtures in it are modeled.