Exception Reference

Common exceptions

• ApprovalPending: the action needs human review and must not execute yet.
• ActionDenied: policy rejected the action and the worker must not execute it.
• ActionExpired: an approval window closed before execution.
• HaltStateConnectionError: the guard service could not be reached or timed out.
• HaltStatePolicyError: the request could not be evaluated because policy context was invalid.

Handling rule

Catch approval and denial explicitly. For high-risk actions, treat unknown exceptions and connection errors as fail-closed unless the policy for that action explicitly permits degraded behavior.

Implementation notes

Keep the HaltState call as close as possible to the side effect. The agent may plan and draft freely, but the wrapper around the actual action should be the place where authority is checked. That wrapper should send only the context required for policy evaluation: safe identifiers, normalized amounts, action names, risk flags, schedule windows, and redaction status. Raw customer payloads and secrets should stay in the business system or protected operator tooling.

Operational evidence

For each action, preserve the decision, the worker outcome, the idempotency key, safe resource references, latency, proof status, and redaction status. This evidence supports incident response and control narratives because it shows what the system did at runtime rather than only describing what the policy document intended. HaltState supports alignment work; it is not a substitute for legal advice or a compliance certification.