Account setup is still manual. You enable rulepacks and create the API key in Command. The agent cannot do either. A fully agent-driven setup is planned and will replace this prerequisite.
Before you start
You need four things:- A workspace with the rulepacks for your content active. The agent validates against whatever is active. In ZeroDrift Command, confirm the regulation rulepacks your content falls under are on. The agent also checks this itself and tells you if none are active. See Rule Packs.
- An API key. Create one in Command under Settings → API → Keys. See Quickstart.
-
The key in your environment. Export it before you start the agent:
Never paste the key into a prompt or a file. The agent reads it from the environment.
-
A content file. CSV or JSONL, one item per row, with a unique ID per item. For example:
What the agent will typically handle
Agents vary, so treat this as what to expect, not a guarantee. Given one of the prompts below, the agent will typically:- Read the docs index at
https://docs.zerodrift.com/llms.txt, and the pages it needs, to learn the API. - Check which rulepacks are active with
GET /api/rulepacks/?active=true, and tell you if none are. - Run a small trial batch first and report how long the full run will take.
- Validate every item with
POST /api/v3/content/validate, staying under the documented rate limit and retrying429and5xxresponses. - Write one result row per item as it goes, so an interrupted run can resume without repeating work.
- Summarize the run: counts by verdict, the most frequently triggered rules, and the items that need a human.
What the agent will not do
- Create your account, workspace, or API key. You do this in Command.
- Change your rules. The agent reads and reports. It does not enable or disable rulepacks or rules.
- Handle billing. Usage is billed to your plan. Check Pricing before you run a large file.
pass does not mean an item is free of personal or health information.
Content you validate is sent to ZeroDrift for enforcement. Check Data retention and Security against your own data policy before you point an agent at sensitive content.
Results file
Ask the agent to write one row per item, with these fields, so results are easy to join back to your source file:
Map
overall_status to verdict like this:
Mini can return
needs_changes with no rule IDs and no fix text. Treat that as escalate.
An item the agent could not check gets verdict: escalate and an error. It never gets pass.
Example prompts
Copy a prompt, change the file name, and paste it into your coding agent.Audit a backlog of support replies
Audit a backlog of support replies
Screen a batch of AI-generated marketing copy
Screen a batch of AI-generated marketing copy
Replay chatbot transcripts, grouped by tenant
Replay chatbot transcripts, grouped by tenant
Tips for better results
- Start with a trial run. The first 10 to 20 items tell the agent the real throughput and surface problems with your file before the full run.
- Ask for a results file, not a chat summary. A file is reproducible, resumable, and joins back to your source data.
- Give a stop condition. Set an error budget, such as “stop if more than 5% of items fail”, so a bad key or a bad file does not burn a full run.
- Put a unique ID on every item. Resume and joins depend on it.
- Say which rulepacks you expect to be active. The agent compares that to what the API reports and flags the gap.
- Use async for long items. Short replies work in sync mode. Long documents belong in async mode. See Long-Form Content.
- Tell the agent to read the rate limit from the docs. Limits depend on your plan and can change. See Handle Errors.
- Keep one
model_enginefor the whole run, and record it. Results from different models are not directly comparable. See Choose a model. - Ask for a spend total. Each response includes
result.cost. Have the agent add them up and report the total with the summary.
A batch validation endpoint is coming. When it ships, this page will point your agent at it for large files. The results file format will not change.
Keep building
Act on Each Verdict
Decide what happens to each result: deliver, fix, block, or escalate.
Enforce a Chatbot
Move from auditing after the fact to checking every reply before it is sent.
Import a Policy
Turn your own policy document into enforceable rules before you audit.
Handle Errors
Retries, rate limits, and what to do when a check cannot run.
For AI Agents
Give your coding agent the machine-readable docs and the API cheat sheet.

