---
title: "Team Bring-Your-Own Guardrails"
url: "/docs/proxy/guardrails/team_based_guardrails"
canonical_url: "https://docs.litellm.ai/docs/proxy/guardrails/team_based_guardrails"
type: "docs"
last_updated: "2026-10-08"
summary: "Team-based guardrails let developers register a guardrail for their team via the API; an admin then reviews and approves or rejects it in the LiteLLM UI. Only Generic Guardrail API guardrails can be registered this way."
related:
  - "/docs/proxy/guardrails/quick_start"
  - "/docs/proxy/guardrails/guardrail_load_balancing"
---
# Team Bring-Your-Own Guardrails

> Index of all LiteLLM docs: https://docs.litellm.ai/llms.txt


Team-based guardrails let **developers** register a guardrail for their team via the API; an **admin** then reviews and approves or rejects it in the LiteLLM UI. Only [Generic Guardrail API](/docs/adding_provider/generic_guardrail_api) guardrails can be registered this way.

## Overview

- **Developer flow:** Use a **team-scoped API key** to `POST /guardrails/register` with your guardrail config. The submission is stored with status `pending_review`.
- **Admin flow:** In the proxy UI, open **Guardrails → Team Guardrails**, review pending submissions, and **Approve** or **Reject**. Approved guardrails become active and are initialized in memory.

---

## Developer flow: Register a guardrail

### Prerequisites

- A **team-scoped** API key (the key must be associated with a team). Keys without a team cannot register guardrails.
- Your guardrail must follow the [Generic Guardrail API](/docs/adding_provider/generic_guardrail_api) contract and config.

### Request

**Endpoint:** `POST /guardrails/register`

**Headers:** `Authorization: Bearer <team_scoped_api_key>`

**Body:** JSON matching the Generic Guardrail API config.

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|-------|------|----------|-------------|
| `guardrail_name` | string | Yes | Unique name for the guardrail. |
| `litellm_params` | object | Yes | Must include `guardrail: "generic_guardrail_api"`, `mode` (e.g. `pre_call`, `post_call`), and `api_base`. See [Generic Guardrail API](/docs/adding_provider/generic_guardrail_api#litellm-configuration). |
| `guardrail_info` | object | No | Optional metadata (e.g. `description`). |

### Requirements for `litellm_params`

- `guardrail` must be exactly `"generic_guardrail_api"`.
- `api_base` is required (your guardrail API base URL).
- `mode` is required (e.g. `pre_call`, `post_call`, `during_call`).

### Example

```bash
curl -X POST "http://localhost:4000/guardrails/register" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <your_team_scoped_api_key>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "guardrail_name": "my-team-guard",
    "litellm_params": {
      "guardrail": "generic_guardrail_api",
      "mode": "pre_call",
      "api_base": "https://your-guardrail-api.com",
      "api_key": "optional-api-key",
      "unreachable_fallback": "fail_closed",
      "forward_api_key": true
    },
    "guardrail_info": {
      "description": "Team content moderation guardrail"
    }
  }'
```

### Example response

```json
{
  "guardrail_id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000",
  "guardrail_name": "my-team-guard",
  "status": "pending_review",
  "submitted_at": "2025-02-28T12:00:00.000Z"
}
```

### Errors

- **400** – Missing or invalid body (e.g. `guardrail` not `generic_guardrail_api`, missing `api_base` or `mode`), or a guardrail with the same `guardrail_name` already exists.
- **400** – "Registration requires an API key associated with a team. Use a team-scoped key." → Use an API key that has a team.
- **500** – Server/database error.

After a successful register, the guardrail stays in `pending_review` until an admin approves or rejects it.

---

## Admin flow: Approve or reject in the UI

Admins review and approve or reject team guardrail submissions in the LiteLLM proxy UI.

### 1. Open the Guardrails page

In the proxy dashboard, go to **Guardrails** (sidebar or navigation).

### 2. Open the Team Guardrails tab

Switch to the **Team Guardrails** tab. This tab lists all team-submitted guardrails and their status.

[Image: Team Guardrails admin view: status summary (Total, Pending Review, Active, Rejected), guardrail list with Pending Review tag, and detail panel with Approve/Reject buttons and configuration options.]

### 3. Review submissions

The table shows:

- **Name**, **Team**, **Endpoint** (api_base), **Status** (Pending Review / Active / Rejected), **Submitted** date, **Submitted by** (user/email), and other config details.

Summary cards show counts for **Total**, **Pending Review**, **Active**, and **Rejected**.

### 4. Approve or reject

- **Pending Review:** Use **Approve** to activate the guardrail. The proxy sets its status to `active` and initializes it in memory so it can be used on requests.
- Use **Reject** to decline the submission (status becomes `rejected`).

Approval triggers the same initialization as adding a guardrail via config or the admin guardrail API; rejection only updates the status and does not load the guardrail.

### API equivalent (admin only)

Admins can also use the REST API:

- **List submissions:** `GET /guardrails/submissions` (optional query: `status`, `team_id`, `search`)
- **Get one:** `GET /guardrails/submissions/{guardrail_id}`
- **Approve:** `POST /guardrails/submissions/{guardrail_id}/approve`
- **Reject:** `POST /guardrails/submissions/{guardrail_id}/reject`

These endpoints require **admin** (e.g. `PROXY_ADMIN`) authentication.

---

## Summary

| Role | Action |
|------|--------|
| **Developer** | Call `POST /guardrails/register` with a team-scoped key and a `generic_guardrail_api` config. Submission enters `pending_review`. |
| **Admin** | Open **Guardrails → Team Guardrails** in the UI (or use the submissions API), then **Approve** or **Reject** each submission. Approved guardrails become active. |

Only guardrails with `litellm_params.guardrail: "generic_guardrail_api"` are accepted for registration. For the full contract and config options, see [Generic Guardrail API](/docs/adding_provider/generic_guardrail_api).

## Related pages

- [Guardrails - Quick Start](https://docs.litellm.ai/docs/proxy/guardrails/quick_start.md)
- [Guardrail Load Balancing](https://docs.litellm.ai/docs/proxy/guardrails/guardrail_load_balancing.md)