Open-source guardrail

Overwriting every stored snapshot with current output

AgentTrail Guard lets this run by default, and writes the match to its local decision log so you can see how often it happens.

Default action
Warn
Severity
Medium severity
Library version
0.2.1Sep 29, 2026

What it catches, and what it misses

Written into the rule itself, next to what it matches, so you can judge it before you trust it.

Warns on a test run told to overwrite stored snapshots with whatever the code produces now: Jest's -u / --updateSnapshot, Vitest's -u / --update, Playwright's and Bun's --update-snapshots, the same flags passed through npm test, pnpm test or yarn test, pytest's --snapshot-update (syrupy and pytest-snapshot), cargo insta accept, cargo insta test --accept, and INSTA_UPDATE=always. A snapshot that no longer matches is a failing test, and accepting every difference at once makes it pass without anyone reading the diff. A warning, not a hold: regenerating snapshots after an intended change is ordinary work. Deliberately NOT matched: writing only NEW snapshots (--update=new, --update-snapshots=missing, --snapshot-update-new-only, INSTA_UPDATE=new), cargo insta review, and Jest's --ci. Misses a runner started through any other script name or wrapper, and snapshot files rewritten with a file tool. A quoted MENTION is not a use: a search, a git commit -m message, an echo or a curl --data body that only names this command is left alone. That holds only while every shell metacharacter stays inside the quotes, so git commit -m "x" && … is still caught; and the carrier must be the first word, so sudo grep … is not exempt.

Tested on every build

The rule must match every command on the left and none on the right, or the library does not build. Catching the real thing is easy; staying quiet on the near-miss is the hard part.

Catches (13)

  • npx jest -u
  • jest --updateSnapshot src/parser
  • vitest run -u
  • pnpm vitest --update
  • npm test -- -u
  • pnpm test:unit --update-snapshot
  • npx playwright test --update-snapshots
  • bun test --update-snapshots
  • pytest --snapshot-update tests/
  • cargo insta accept
  • cargo insta test --accept
  • INSTA_UPDATE=always cargo test
  • PowerShellnpx vitest run -u

Stays quiet on (16)

  • git commit -m "docs: explain vitest run -u"
  • grep -rn "vitest run -u" docs/
  • echo "never run vitest run -u"
  • curl --data "we ran vitest run -u" https://api.example.com/comments
  • vitest run
  • npx jest --ci
  • vitest run --update=new
  • npx playwright test --update-snapshots=missing
  • pytest --snapshot-update-new-only
  • cargo insta review
  • cargo insta test --check
  • INSTA_UPDATE=no cargo test
  • pnpm update vitest
  • npm install -D jest
  • git push -u origin feature/x
  • pip install -U pytest

What "warn" means in each app

The guard runs as a hook in each app, and each app gives a hook different powers. Here is what this rule's default action does in each one.

Claude Code
The call runs, and the match is written to the local decision log.
Cursor
The call runs, and Cursor shows nothing. The match is still written to the decision log.
Codex CLI
The call runs. Codex's terminal UI shows a hook line (a codex exec run shows nothing), and the match is written to the decision log.

Each app hands the guard a different set of calls: in a Cursor sandbox run mode, for one, some terminal commands run without reaching the guard at all. Read the notes for Cursor and for Codex CLI before you rely on a rule there.

Change what it does in one command

Turn it off, change its action, or silence it on one command shape. The narrow one is allow: the rule keeps catching everything else.

agenttrail-guard
$agenttrail-guard guardrails show ti.snapshot-blanket-update# everything about it
$agenttrail-guard guardrails set-action ti.snapshot-blanket-update ask# block, ask or warn
$agenttrail-guard guardrails allow ti.snapshot-blanket-update '<pattern>'# silence one shape
$agenttrail-guard guardrails disable ti.snapshot-blanket-update# turn it off

Put these guardrails in front of your agent.

AgentTrail Guard is free and open source. It checks every command and file change against the whole library before your agent runs it, on your machine, with no account.

bash
$npm i -g @agenttrail/guard
Read the source on GitHub