Company control
Job
The question
What are you here to do?
Agent version
One task, a done point, and a stop point.
Technical layer
Task contract
How it is designed to work · Private pilot
A job. A work area. A badge. A limit.
This is how companies give people room to work without giving everyone the master key. Dutch Door is testing the same idea for AI agents.
The model can come from anywhere. Dutch Door is designed to sit between the action an agent chooses and the real system that carries it out.
Pilot architecture being tested
Any AI agent
Proposes an action
Dutch Door execution boundary
Allow · hold · block
Your real systems
Run once · leave a receipt · recover when possible
The agent may change. The workplace pattern stays.
The workplace map
The same controls, built for an agent.
A handbook matters. But companies also use roles, rooms, badges, budgets, managers, and records. The pilot brings that operating model to AI work.
Company controlThe questionAgent versionTechnical layer
Company control
Work area
The question
Where may you work?
Agent version
A bounded place for this run, away from live systems when possible.
Technical layer
Isolated workspace
Company control
Badge
The question
Which doors open?
Agent version
Short-lived access to named systems. No master key.
Technical layer
Scoped credentials
Company control
Tools and data
The question
What may you see or change?
Agent version
Only what the job needs. Read-only when writing is not needed.
Technical layer
Tool and data scopes
Company control
Authority limit
The question
What may you do alone?
Agent version
Caps on money, volume, people, and live changes.
Technical layer
Action policy
Company control
Manager
The question
When must you ask?
Agent version
Pause when the job, stakes, or risk changes.
Technical layer
Approval and stop point
Company control
Receipt and way back
The question
What happened? Can it be fixed?
Agent version
A clear action record, one-time effects, and recovery where possible.
Technical layer
Audit, idempotency, recovery
Instructions teach the job.
The workplace holds the limits.
The action path
What happens when an agent tries to act.
The agent still does the useful thinking. The execution layer narrows what the action can reach before it touches the outside world.
- 1
Set the job, the finish line, and the stop point.
- 2
Open a small work area and a small key.
- 3
Let the agent propose an action.
- 4
Check the job, access, and risk.
- 5
Let safe work move. Hold or block the rest.
- 6
Run an approved action once—not again on a retry.
- 7
Save a receipt and a way back when one exists.
The execution layer
The model is the brain. Dutch Door guards the action path.
Dutch Door is not another AI model. It is being designed as the place where an action can be made smaller, allowed, held for a person, or blocked before it reaches a real system.
Small keys
Give short-lived access to named tools and data. Keep broad account keys out of the job.
Exact checks
Show the real amount, people, records, and change before a high-risk action runs.
One yes, one action
A one-use approval and stable request ID keep a retry from doing the same thing twice.
Hard stop points
Rate, cost, and retry limits stop one mistake from turning into a chain of mistakes.
A way back
Use drafts, staged changes, checkpoints, and recovery for work that can hurt.
Mistake-proof architecture
Change the shape of the workplace.
A workshop Dutch door lets valuable work pass through the open half while the closed half holds the work boundary. AI systems need the same shape: routine work moves; risky actions pause at the threshold.
Words for the agentA boundary in its workplace
Words for the agent
“Never touch production.”
A boundary in its workplace
Production keys stay out of test work.
Words for the agent
“Ask before sending.”
A boundary in its workplace
One approval opens one named send, once.
Words for the agent
“Do not delete everything.”
A boundary in its workplace
Bulk delete is blocked, delayed, or reversible.
Words for the agent
“Stop if it keeps failing.”
A boundary in its workplace
A retry limit stops the run.
Make the safe path easy. Add friction only where the stakes rise.
Across real work
The agent may change. The workplace pattern stays.
Reading and drafting can move. A new list or a large delete can wait.
Money
Prepare the payment. Hold the transfer until the amount and payee are clear.
Customer data
Read the records the job needs. Hold bulk changes and deletion.
Code and cloud
Build and test in a safe place. Hold the live deploy or secret change.
Files and browsers
Edit a draft. Hold publishing, sharing, or an outside account change.
From debt to equity
Make every fix useful next time.
Another warning helps one run. A test, smaller key, hard limit, stop point, or recovery path helps every run after it.
Read why Dutch Door beganWhy the boundary matters
Rules help. They do not lock the door.
Studies and real cases show policy drift, changing reruns, approval fatigue, and broad keys reaching live systems.
See the evidenceStart small
Start with one job, not the whole company.
Dutch Door is in private pilot. This page describes the model-independent architecture being tested. It does not mean every named agent platform is integrated today.
Bring a workflow to the pilot