> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://anthale.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Anthale Actions and Guardrail Evaluation Flow

> Understand how Anthale resolves guardrail hits into one runtime action so your application can enforce `allow`, `detect`, `redact`, or `block`.

Anthale evaluates the guardrails configured in a policy and returns one runtime action your application must enforce.

## Evaluation flow

1. Anthale receives content, `direction`, and metadata.
2. Anthale runs the guardrails configured for that policy and request path.
3. Each configured guardrail evaluates the content against the policy settings.
4. Anthale resolves the result into one returned action.

## Action priority

When Anthale resolves multiple hits, `block` wins over `redact`, `redact` wins over `detect`, and `detect` wins over `allow`.

## Configured guardrail actions

At the policy level, guardrails are configured to `detect`, `redact`, or `block` when they trigger. The exact choices depend on the guardrail.

## Returned runtime actions

### `allow`

Continue the flow unchanged.

### `detect`

Continue the flow and log the event for review.

### `redact`

Continue with Anthale's sanitized content instead of the raw content.

### `block`

Stop the request or response and return a safe fallback.

## Failure handling

Your service still decides whether transport failures fail open or fail closed. Anthale returns the runtime result shape, but your application owns resilience policy.

## Recommended handling pattern

Use one shared enforcement layer or middleware, keep fallback responses standardized, and log every returned action with request metadata. Avoid app-specific overrides that weaken stronger actions.

## Common mistakes

The common failures are sending the original content after a `redact`, treating `detect` as if nothing happened operationally, and handling the same action differently across services.

## Next steps

Next, read [API Reference Overview](/docs/api-reference) or the [Python Direct SDK Path](/docs/quickstart/python).