AgentIndex icon
AgentIndex
ctrlrun logo
ctrlrun
★ 27
vs
shellgate logo
shellgate
★ 15

ctrlrun vs shellgate

ctrlrun: CTRLRun ensures execution safety for AI agents by acting as a critical check between an agent's decision and the actual call. It enforces strict policies to prevent unintended actions, duplicate effects, and ambiguous outcomes, providing auditable receipts for every interaction.; shellgate: Shellgate acts as a secure gateway between AI agents and your infrastructure, ensuring agents never directly access sensitive credentials like API keys or SSH keys. It enforces granular access control, logs every request, and intercepts dangerous commands for human approval, significantly enhancing the security and audibility of AI agent operations.

01

TL;DR

ctrlrun logo
ctrlrunSecurity & Safety · ★ 27

Managing infrastructure deployments and operations in DevOps, ensuring changes are approved and auditable.

Read ctrlrun full review →
shellgate logo
shellgateSecurity & Safety · ★ 15

Securely connecting AI agents to external APIs without exposing real credentials.

Read shellgate full review →
02

Side-by-Side Comparison

Field
ctrlrun logoctrlrun
shellgate logoshellgate
Category
Security & Safety
Security & Safety
Stars
★ 27
★ 15
License
Apache-2.0
MIT
Install Command
pip install ctrlrun
docker run -d -p 3000:3000 -e DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:pass@host:5432/shellgate -e SESSION_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32) ghcr.io/matthiastjong/shellgate:latest
Updated
1d ago
4mo ago
Open Source
Yes
Yes
Website
↗ Visit
↗ Visit
GitHub
↗ GitHub
↗ GitHub
Tags
AI Agents, Execution Safety, Policy Enforcement
AI Agent Security, API Gateway, Credential Management
03

Features

ctrlrun logoctrlrun
01Approval binding to exact actions, refusing mutated or replayed ones.
02Ensures one logical effect happens at most once, across threads, processes, and hosts.
03Distinguishes unknown outcomes (AMBIGUOUS) from failures, blocking blind retries.
04Generates portable JSON receipts for every executed action, recording who, what, and outcome.
05Applies a fail-closed policy, denying unknown actions, missing policies, or principals by default.
shellgate logoshellgate
01Gateway Proxy for API/SSH with credential injection.
02Scoped and revocable token management for agents.
03Human-in-the-loop guard for dangerous commands/APIs.
04Comprehensive audit logging of all agent activities.
05MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for seamless agent integration.
04

Use Cases

ctrlrun logoctrlrun
↳Managing infrastructure deployments and operations in DevOps, ensuring changes are approved and auditable.
↳Enforcing security policies like firewall rules or disabling protection, with strict human oversight for critical actions.
↳Handling financial transactions such as refunds, ensuring amounts are within policy and preventing double refunds.
↳Controlling Identity and Access Management (IAM) operations like granting roles, preventing unauthorized privilege escalation.
shellgate logoshellgate
↳Securely connecting AI agents to external APIs without exposing real credentials.
↳Allowing agents to execute commands on remote SSH servers with approval and auditing.
↳Protecting against prompt injection by intercepting dangerous agent commands.
↳Centralized management and revocation of AI agent access permissions.
↳Providing persistent memory and a knowledge base for AI agents.
FAQ

FAQ

What is the difference between ctrlrun and shellgate?
Both ctrlrun and shellgate are in the Security & Safety category. ctrlrun has 27 stars, while shellgate has 15 stars.
Which is better, ctrlrun or shellgate?
The best choice depends on your use case. Choose ctrlrun if Managing infrastructure deployments and operations in DevOps, ensuring changes are approved and auditable., and shellgate if Securely connecting AI agents to external APIs without exposing real credentials..
Is ctrlrun free or open source?
Yes, ctrlrun is open source on GitHub (Apache-2.0).
Is shellgate free or open source?
Yes, shellgate is open source on GitHub (MIT).
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Related

Alternatives to ctrlrun →Alternatives to shellgate →ctrlrun details →shellgate details →