Guardavo

Guardavo is a hypothetical open-source software framework designed to implement guard-based access control in software applications. It provides a set of guard primitives that can be attached to API endpoints, service methods, or data access layers to enforce security and integrity at runtime.

Guards are modular checks that evaluate context such as user identity, roles, request origin, input validity, and rate limits. A declarative policy language lets developers specify which guards must pass for a given operation, while a central policy engine handles evaluation, precedence, and decision logging.

The architecture centers on a guard library, a policy compiler, and framework adapters. Built-in guards cover authentication, authorization, input validation, and rate limiting, with additional guards available through plugins. Guardavo supports pluggable identity backends, audit logging, and multi-tenant contexts, enabling consistent enforcement across services.

Typical use cases include securing REST and GraphQL APIs, guarding service-to-service calls in microservice architectures, and protecting sensitive admin interfaces. By separating guard logic from business logic, Guardavo aims to promote the principle of least privilege and improve maintainability of security policies.

Design goals emphasize low overhead, clear policy semantics, and language-agnostic APIs. The project community provides documentation and example adapters for multiple runtimes, with ongoing work to expand guard types and integration options.