A deterministic contract around stochastic model execution
DAX is a governed execution workstation. It puts policy, approvals, replay and audit around the model, so a coding agent can propose anything and change only what passes.
Outcomes
What DAX changes in the run
Govern what changes, keep the trail, and leave evidence, without turning the run into a chat log you have to dig through later.
Pause what matters
Risky actions resolve to allow / ask / deny before mutation.
See the run
Canonical events and replayable state, not chat archaeology.
Prove trust
Audit posture plus tamper-evident ledger checks.
New in 2.0
A run does only what was approved
DAX 2.0 adds reviewed runs: the permissions are approved before the run starts, and anything they do not cover is refused on the record. Scroll through one.
- Reviewed run
The run's grant is written down first
What the run may do, before it starts: which tools, which paths, which agents it may delegate to.
An operator approves exactly that grant
The approval covers that grant, capability, contract and binding. Remembering it covers only that combination.
Published, activated, then started
The approved grant is published unchanged, the run is activated against it, and someone starts it. Approval alone does not start a run.
A request outside the grant is refused
The denial is recorded before any effect. If the decision cannot be recorded, the request is refused as well.
Where everything came from
Delegated tasks, instructions, context and summaries are recorded as commitments, without keeping the conversation text.
A cloned repo runs nothing until trusted
A repository's own tool and plugin files wait for dax trust, and approval is bound to their content.
Built-ins keep their names
A plugin or MCP tool called read cannot stand in for the built-in read under a contract.
Changes over HTTP need a password
Without DAX_SERVER_PASSWORD, the HTTP server is read-only. The local TUI works as before.
Claude through an API key (2.0.1)
Native subscription sign-in is retired. The Claude Code worker keeps its own login.
Reviewed runs cover a compiled DAX binary and remote MCP servers the operator acknowledges. Plugins, local MCP servers, workers and verifiers cannot be bound in a reviewed run, so they are refused there. Details in the changelog.
Product tour
RAO: intent, run, audit, override
A scripted walkthrough of how DAX pauses risky writes, records a verification receipt, and branches on approve or deny. It runs in your browser; nothing is sent to a server.
Task locked before the model moves
Task: Add an isEven helper with tests.
Write-scope is limited to src/**. package.json is forbidden. Policy vocabulary stays exact: allow / ask / deny.
Proof ladder
Rust decides deterministic facts
Five crates form the ladder from replay to ledger. Orchestration stays in TypeScript; proofs stay offline and local.
| Crate | Role |
|---|---|
| dax-core | Replays canonical run events; deterministic proof reports |
| dax-policy | allow / ask / deny without a model call |
| dax-audit | Trust posture from six structured signals |
| dax-ledger | Tamper-evident append-only chain |
| dax-indexer | Deterministic local structure index |
Peg note: pinned to commit fe911e57415dcfa9d101bd2584b28d2ea3c84694 (v2.0.1)
Contrast
Where DAX sits among peers
Same class of tools, different posture on pausing, evidence and replay. As of v2.0.1.
Cursor
- Strong IDE agent UX
- Approvals in the editor flow
- Session-centric trail
- Less formal audit export
Claude Code
- Capable terminal agent
- Permission prompts in-run
- Transcript-forward history
- Proof ladder not primary
Codex
- Cloud / CLI agent loops
- Policy via product controls
- Run logs as product surface
- Local ledger optional
DAX
- ✓Pause / approval (allow · ask · deny)
- ✓Evidence-forward diffs
- ✓Replayable run state
- ✓Audit readiness + ledger
Try / install
Get DAX on the machine
Install paths and a local proof-ladder demo. Blocks are copyable; paste into your terminal when ready.
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ShaileshRawat1403/dax/main/script/install.sh | DAX_REPO=ShaileshRawat1403/dax bash
brew install ShaileshRawat1403/tap/dax
winget install DaxAi.DAX
bun run demo:proof-ladder
Prefer a release asset? Download v2.0.1.
Evidence stills
What the workstation looks like
Screens from DAX 2.0.1, captured from the release binary in a sample repo: the home screen, a worker’s contract before launch, and the connect dialog.
