> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vijil.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Guard

> Specialized protection modules that defend against specific threat categories.

A Guard is a protection module focused on a specific threat category. While a [Guardrail](/concepts/defense/guardrail) defines your overall protection policy, Guards do the actual work of detecting and handling threats.

Guards are the building blocks of Guardrails. Each Guard performs specific checks and/or transformations on the data. For instance, a Guard in an input Guardrail can check for security, while a Guard in an output Guardrail might check for moderation or privacy.

A Guard belongs to one of the following categories:

* Security
* Moderation
* Privacy
* Integrity
* Generic

Guards consist of a set of [Detectors](/concepts/evaluation-components/detector) and how they should be executed.

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Detector" icon="microscope" href="/concepts/defense/detector">
    The detection engines inside Guards
  </Card>

  <Card title="Configure Guardrails" icon="sliders-horizontal" href="/owner-guide/protect-in-production/configuring-guardrails">
    Set up Guards for your agent
  </Card>

  <Card title="Available Guards" icon="list" href="/tutorials/protect-agents/configuring-guardrails">
    Reference of all Guard types
  </Card>
</CardGroup>