Create a guardrail

curl --request POST \
  --url https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/guardrails \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '
{
  "allowed_data_regions": [
    "europe"
  ],
  "allowed_models": null,
  "allowed_providers": [
    "openai",
    "anthropic",
    "deepseek"
  ],
  "description": "A guardrail for limiting API usage",
  "enforce_zdr_anthropic": true,
  "enforce_zdr_google": false,
  "enforce_zdr_openai": true,
  "enforce_zdr_other": false,
  "enforce_zdr_xai": false,
  "ignored_models": null,
  "ignored_providers": null,
  "limit_usd": 50,
  "name": "My New Guardrail",
  "reset_interval": "monthly"
}
'

import requests

url = "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/guardrails"

payload = {
    "allowed_data_regions": ["europe"],
    "allowed_models": None,
    "allowed_providers": ["openai", "anthropic", "deepseek"],
    "description": "A guardrail for limiting API usage",
    "enforce_zdr_anthropic": True,
    "enforce_zdr_google": False,
    "enforce_zdr_openai": True,
    "enforce_zdr_other": False,
    "enforce_zdr_xai": False,
    "ignored_models": None,
    "ignored_providers": None,
    "limit_usd": 50,
    "name": "My New Guardrail",
    "reset_interval": "monthly"
}
headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer <token>",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)

print(response.text)

const options = {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {Authorization: 'Bearer <token>', 'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
  body: JSON.stringify({
    allowed_data_regions: ['europe'],
    allowed_models: null,
    allowed_providers: ['openai', 'anthropic', 'deepseek'],
    description: 'A guardrail for limiting API usage',
    enforce_zdr_anthropic: true,
    enforce_zdr_google: false,
    enforce_zdr_openai: true,
    enforce_zdr_other: false,
    enforce_zdr_xai: false,
    ignored_models: null,
    ignored_providers: null,
    limit_usd: 50,
    name: 'My New Guardrail',
    reset_interval: 'monthly'
  })
};

fetch('https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/guardrails', options)
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(res => console.log(res))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/guardrails",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "POST",
  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode([
    'allowed_data_regions' => [
        'europe'
    ],
    'allowed_models' => null,
    'allowed_providers' => [
        'openai',
        'anthropic',
        'deepseek'
    ],
    'description' => 'A guardrail for limiting API usage',
    'enforce_zdr_anthropic' => true,
    'enforce_zdr_google' => false,
    'enforce_zdr_openai' => true,
    'enforce_zdr_other' => false,
    'enforce_zdr_xai' => false,
    'ignored_models' => null,
    'ignored_providers' => null,
    'limit_usd' => 50,
    'name' => 'My New Guardrail',
    'reset_interval' => 'monthly'
  ]),
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
    "Authorization: Bearer <token>",
    "Content-Type: application/json"
  ],
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
  echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
  echo $response;
}

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"strings"
	"net/http"
	"io"
)

func main() {

	url := "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/guardrails"

	payload := strings.NewReader("{\n  \"allowed_data_regions\": [\n    \"europe\"\n  ],\n  \"allowed_models\": null,\n  \"allowed_providers\": [\n    \"openai\",\n    \"anthropic\",\n    \"deepseek\"\n  ],\n  \"description\": \"A guardrail for limiting API usage\",\n  \"enforce_zdr_anthropic\": true,\n  \"enforce_zdr_google\": false,\n  \"enforce_zdr_openai\": true,\n  \"enforce_zdr_other\": false,\n  \"enforce_zdr_xai\": false,\n  \"ignored_models\": null,\n  \"ignored_providers\": null,\n  \"limit_usd\": 50,\n  \"name\": \"My New Guardrail\",\n  \"reset_interval\": \"monthly\"\n}")

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", url, payload)

	req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(string(body))

}

HttpResponse<String> response = Unirest.post("https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/guardrails")
  .header("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")
  .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
  .body("{\n  \"allowed_data_regions\": [\n    \"europe\"\n  ],\n  \"allowed_models\": null,\n  \"allowed_providers\": [\n    \"openai\",\n    \"anthropic\",\n    \"deepseek\"\n  ],\n  \"description\": \"A guardrail for limiting API usage\",\n  \"enforce_zdr_anthropic\": true,\n  \"enforce_zdr_google\": false,\n  \"enforce_zdr_openai\": true,\n  \"enforce_zdr_other\": false,\n  \"enforce_zdr_xai\": false,\n  \"ignored_models\": null,\n  \"ignored_providers\": null,\n  \"limit_usd\": 50,\n  \"name\": \"My New Guardrail\",\n  \"reset_interval\": \"monthly\"\n}")
  .asString();

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/guardrails")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)
request["Authorization"] = 'Bearer <token>'
request["Content-Type"] = 'application/json'
request.body = "{\n  \"allowed_data_regions\": [\n    \"europe\"\n  ],\n  \"allowed_models\": null,\n  \"allowed_providers\": [\n    \"openai\",\n    \"anthropic\",\n    \"deepseek\"\n  ],\n  \"description\": \"A guardrail for limiting API usage\",\n  \"enforce_zdr_anthropic\": true,\n  \"enforce_zdr_google\": false,\n  \"enforce_zdr_openai\": true,\n  \"enforce_zdr_other\": false,\n  \"enforce_zdr_xai\": false,\n  \"ignored_models\": null,\n  \"ignored_providers\": null,\n  \"limit_usd\": 50,\n  \"name\": \"My New Guardrail\",\n  \"reset_interval\": \"monthly\"\n}"

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

{
  "data": {
    "allowed_models": null,
    "allowed_providers": [
      "openai",
      "anthropic",
      "google"
    ],
    "created_at": "2025-08-24T10:30:00Z",
    "description": "A guardrail for limiting API usage",
    "enforce_zdr": null,
    "enforce_zdr_anthropic": true,
    "enforce_zdr_google": false,
    "enforce_zdr_openai": true,
    "enforce_zdr_other": false,
    "enforce_zdr_xai": false,
    "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
    "ignored_models": null,
    "ignored_providers": null,
    "include_byok_in_budgets": false,
    "limit_usd": 50,
    "name": "My New Guardrail",
    "reset_interval": "monthly",
    "updated_at": null,
    "workspace_id": "0df9e665-d932-5740-b2c7-b52af166bc11"
  }
}

{
  "error": {
    "code": 400,
    "message": "Invalid request parameters"
  }
}

{
  "error": {
    "code": 401,
    "message": "Missing Authentication header"
  }
}

{
  "error": {
    "code": 403,
    "message": "Only management keys can perform this operation"
  }
}

{
  "error": {
    "code": 500,
    "message": "Internal Server Error"
  }
}

Guardrails

Create a guardrail

Create a new guardrail for the authenticated user. A newly created guardrail enforces nothing until it is assigned to API keys or organization members; workspace_id places the guardrail in a workspace but does not apply it to that workspace’s traffic. To restrict all traffic in a workspace, update the workspace’s default guardrail instead. Set allowed_data_regions to enforce In-Region Routing: governed requests must arrive through one of the listed OpenRouter domains and are rejected with a 403 otherwise. Management key required.

POST

guardrails

Create a guardrail

curl --request POST \
  --url https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/guardrails \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '
{
  "allowed_data_regions": [
    "europe"
  ],
  "allowed_models": null,
  "allowed_providers": [
    "openai",
    "anthropic",
    "deepseek"
  ],
  "description": "A guardrail for limiting API usage",
  "enforce_zdr_anthropic": true,
  "enforce_zdr_google": false,
  "enforce_zdr_openai": true,
  "enforce_zdr_other": false,
  "enforce_zdr_xai": false,
  "ignored_models": null,
  "ignored_providers": null,
  "limit_usd": 50,
  "name": "My New Guardrail",
  "reset_interval": "monthly"
}
'

import requests

url = "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/guardrails"

payload = {
    "allowed_data_regions": ["europe"],
    "allowed_models": None,
    "allowed_providers": ["openai", "anthropic", "deepseek"],
    "description": "A guardrail for limiting API usage",
    "enforce_zdr_anthropic": True,
    "enforce_zdr_google": False,
    "enforce_zdr_openai": True,
    "enforce_zdr_other": False,
    "enforce_zdr_xai": False,
    "ignored_models": None,
    "ignored_providers": None,
    "limit_usd": 50,
    "name": "My New Guardrail",
    "reset_interval": "monthly"
}
headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer <token>",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)

print(response.text)

const options = {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {Authorization: 'Bearer <token>', 'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
  body: JSON.stringify({
    allowed_data_regions: ['europe'],
    allowed_models: null,
    allowed_providers: ['openai', 'anthropic', 'deepseek'],
    description: 'A guardrail for limiting API usage',
    enforce_zdr_anthropic: true,
    enforce_zdr_google: false,
    enforce_zdr_openai: true,
    enforce_zdr_other: false,
    enforce_zdr_xai: false,
    ignored_models: null,
    ignored_providers: null,
    limit_usd: 50,
    name: 'My New Guardrail',
    reset_interval: 'monthly'
  })
};

fetch('https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/guardrails', options)
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(res => console.log(res))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/guardrails",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "POST",
  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode([
    'allowed_data_regions' => [
        'europe'
    ],
    'allowed_models' => null,
    'allowed_providers' => [
        'openai',
        'anthropic',
        'deepseek'
    ],
    'description' => 'A guardrail for limiting API usage',
    'enforce_zdr_anthropic' => true,
    'enforce_zdr_google' => false,
    'enforce_zdr_openai' => true,
    'enforce_zdr_other' => false,
    'enforce_zdr_xai' => false,
    'ignored_models' => null,
    'ignored_providers' => null,
    'limit_usd' => 50,
    'name' => 'My New Guardrail',
    'reset_interval' => 'monthly'
  ]),
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
    "Authorization: Bearer <token>",
    "Content-Type: application/json"
  ],
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
  echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
  echo $response;
}

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"strings"
	"net/http"
	"io"
)

func main() {

	url := "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/guardrails"

	payload := strings.NewReader("{\n  \"allowed_data_regions\": [\n    \"europe\"\n  ],\n  \"allowed_models\": null,\n  \"allowed_providers\": [\n    \"openai\",\n    \"anthropic\",\n    \"deepseek\"\n  ],\n  \"description\": \"A guardrail for limiting API usage\",\n  \"enforce_zdr_anthropic\": true,\n  \"enforce_zdr_google\": false,\n  \"enforce_zdr_openai\": true,\n  \"enforce_zdr_other\": false,\n  \"enforce_zdr_xai\": false,\n  \"ignored_models\": null,\n  \"ignored_providers\": null,\n  \"limit_usd\": 50,\n  \"name\": \"My New Guardrail\",\n  \"reset_interval\": \"monthly\"\n}")

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", url, payload)

	req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(string(body))

}

HttpResponse<String> response = Unirest.post("https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/guardrails")
  .header("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")
  .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
  .body("{\n  \"allowed_data_regions\": [\n    \"europe\"\n  ],\n  \"allowed_models\": null,\n  \"allowed_providers\": [\n    \"openai\",\n    \"anthropic\",\n    \"deepseek\"\n  ],\n  \"description\": \"A guardrail for limiting API usage\",\n  \"enforce_zdr_anthropic\": true,\n  \"enforce_zdr_google\": false,\n  \"enforce_zdr_openai\": true,\n  \"enforce_zdr_other\": false,\n  \"enforce_zdr_xai\": false,\n  \"ignored_models\": null,\n  \"ignored_providers\": null,\n  \"limit_usd\": 50,\n  \"name\": \"My New Guardrail\",\n  \"reset_interval\": \"monthly\"\n}")
  .asString();

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/guardrails")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)
request["Authorization"] = 'Bearer <token>'
request["Content-Type"] = 'application/json'
request.body = "{\n  \"allowed_data_regions\": [\n    \"europe\"\n  ],\n  \"allowed_models\": null,\n  \"allowed_providers\": [\n    \"openai\",\n    \"anthropic\",\n    \"deepseek\"\n  ],\n  \"description\": \"A guardrail for limiting API usage\",\n  \"enforce_zdr_anthropic\": true,\n  \"enforce_zdr_google\": false,\n  \"enforce_zdr_openai\": true,\n  \"enforce_zdr_other\": false,\n  \"enforce_zdr_xai\": false,\n  \"ignored_models\": null,\n  \"ignored_providers\": null,\n  \"limit_usd\": 50,\n  \"name\": \"My New Guardrail\",\n  \"reset_interval\": \"monthly\"\n}"

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

{
  "data": {
    "allowed_models": null,
    "allowed_providers": [
      "openai",
      "anthropic",
      "google"
    ],
    "created_at": "2025-08-24T10:30:00Z",
    "description": "A guardrail for limiting API usage",
    "enforce_zdr": null,
    "enforce_zdr_anthropic": true,
    "enforce_zdr_google": false,
    "enforce_zdr_openai": true,
    "enforce_zdr_other": false,
    "enforce_zdr_xai": false,
    "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
    "ignored_models": null,
    "ignored_providers": null,
    "include_byok_in_budgets": false,
    "limit_usd": 50,
    "name": "My New Guardrail",
    "reset_interval": "monthly",
    "updated_at": null,
    "workspace_id": "0df9e665-d932-5740-b2c7-b52af166bc11"
  }
}

{
  "error": {
    "code": 400,
    "message": "Invalid request parameters"
  }
}

{
  "error": {
    "code": 401,
    "message": "Missing Authentication header"
  }
}

{
  "error": {
    "code": 403,
    "message": "Only management keys can perform this operation"
  }
}

{
  "error": {
    "code": 500,
    "message": "Internal Server Error"
  }
}

Authorizations

Authorization

string

header

required

API key as bearer token in Authorization header

Body

application/json

name

string

required

Name for the new guardrail

Required string length: 1 - 200

Example:

"My New Guardrail"

allowed_data_regions

enum<string>[] | null

Data regions through which requests governed by this guardrail must arrive. global is https://openrouter.ai, europe is https://eu.openrouter.ai, and us is https://us.openrouter.ai. Requests arriving through any other region are rejected. null leaves the ingress region unrestricted. When several guardrails apply (workspace default, member, API key), the effective regions are the intersection of every non-null value. An empty array is rejected.

Minimum array length: 1

An OpenRouter data region: global (https://openrouter.ai), europe (https://eu.openrouter.ai), or us (https://us.openrouter.ai)

Available options:

global,

europe,

us

Example:

["europe"]

allowed_models

string[] | null

Array of model identifiers (slug or canonical_slug accepted)

Minimum array length: 1

Example:

[
  "openai/gpt-5.2",
  "anthropic/claude-4.5-opus-20251124",
  "deepseek/deepseek-r1-0528:free"
]

allowed_providers

string[] | null

List of allowed provider IDs

Minimum array length: 1

Example:

["openai", "anthropic", "deepseek"]

content_filter_builtins

object[] | null

Builtin content filters to apply. Every builtin slug supports "block", "redact", and the detect-only "flag" action.

Show child attributes

Example:

[
  {
    "action": "block",
    "slug": "regex-prompt-injection"
  }
]

content_filters

object[] | null

Custom regex content filters to apply to request messages

Show child attributes

Example:

[
  {
    "action": "redact",
    "label": "[API_KEY]",
    "pattern": "\\b(sk-[a-zA-Z0-9]{48})\\b"
  }
]

description

string | null

Description of the guardrail

Maximum string length: 1000

Example:

"A guardrail for limiting API usage"

enable_free_model_publication

boolean | null

Whether this guardrail allows free endpoints that publish prompts.

Example:

false

enable_free_model_training

boolean | null

Whether this guardrail allows free endpoints that train on request data.

Example:

true

enable_paid_model_training

boolean | null

Whether this guardrail allows paid endpoints that train on request data.

Example:

true

enforce_zdr

boolean | null

deprecated

Deprecated. Use enforce_zdr_anthropic, enforce_zdr_openai, enforce_zdr_google, enforce_zdr_xai, and enforce_zdr_other instead. When provided, its value is copied into any of those per-provider fields that are not explicitly specified on the request.

Example:

false

enforce_zdr_anthropic

boolean | null

Whether to enforce zero data retention for Anthropic models. Falls back to enforce_zdr when not provided.

Example:

false

enforce_zdr_google

boolean | null

Whether to enforce zero data retention for Google models. Falls back to enforce_zdr when not provided.

Example:

false

enforce_zdr_openai

boolean | null

Whether to enforce zero data retention for OpenAI models. Falls back to enforce_zdr when not provided.

Example:

false

enforce_zdr_other

boolean | null

Whether to enforce zero data retention for models that are not from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, or xAI. Falls back to enforce_zdr when not provided.

Example:

false

enforce_zdr_xai

boolean | null

Whether to enforce zero data retention for xAI models. Falls back to enforce_zdr when not provided.

Example:

false

ignored_models

string[] | null

Array of model identifiers to exclude from routing (slug or canonical_slug accepted)

Minimum array length: 1

Example:

["openai/gpt-4o-mini"]

ignored_providers

string[] | null

List of provider IDs to exclude from routing

Minimum array length: 1

Example:

["azure"]

include_byok_in_budgets

boolean

Whether BYOK (bring-your-own-key) inference spend counts toward this guardrail's limit_usd, in addition to OpenRouter credit spend. Defaults to false.

Example:

false

limit_usd

number<double> | null

Spending limit in USD. Must be provided together with reset_interval: a request that sets only one of the two is rejected with a 400.

Example:

50

reset_interval

enum<string> | null

Interval at which the limit resets (daily, weekly, monthly)

Available options:

daily,

weekly,

monthly,

null

Example:

"monthly"

workspace_id

string<uuid>

The workspace to create the guardrail in. When omitted, the guardrail is created in the default workspace; if that default has been deleted, the request returns a 400 and you must pass workspace_id explicitly. This only places the guardrail in the workspace; the created guardrail enforces nothing for that workspace's traffic until it is assigned to API keys or members. To restrict all traffic in a workspace, update the workspace's default guardrail instead.

Example:

"0df9e665-d932-5740-b2c7-b52af166bc11"

Response

Guardrail created successfully

data

object

required

The created guardrail

Show child attributes

Example:

{
  "allowed_data_regions": null,
  "allowed_models": null,
  "allowed_providers": ["openai", "anthropic", "google"],
  "content_filter_builtins": [
    {
      "action": "redact",
      "label": "[EMAIL]",
      "slug": "email"
    }
  ],
  "content_filters": null,
  "created_at": "2025-08-24T10:30:00Z",
  "description": "Guardrail for production environment",
  "enable_free_model_publication": false,
  "enable_free_model_training": true,
  "enable_paid_model_training": true,
  "enforce_zdr": null,
  "enforce_zdr_anthropic": true,
  "enforce_zdr_google": false,
  "enforce_zdr_openai": true,
  "enforce_zdr_other": false,
  "enforce_zdr_xai": false,
  "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "ignored_models": null,
  "ignored_providers": null,
  "include_byok_in_budgets": false,
  "limit_usd": 100,
  "name": "Production Guardrail",
  "reset_interval": "monthly",
  "updated_at": "2025-08-24T15:45:00Z",
  "workspace_id": "0df9e665-d932-5740-b2c7-b52af166bc11"
}

API Guides

Versioning

API Reference

Create a guardrail

Authorizations

Body

Response