Kill switches give you ultimate control over AI agents. When an agent goes rogue—stuck in a loop, consuming excessive resources, or behaving unexpectedly—you need the ability to stop it immediately. AgentWall's kill switch provides that power.
The Problem
AI agents can spiral out of control. An infinite loop can consume thousands of dollars in hours. A compromised agent might leak sensitive data. A buggy agent might make incorrect decisions affecting customers.
Traditional approaches require manual intervention: finding the process, identifying the right service, and terminating it. This process takes minutes—during which damage accumulates.
The Solution: Instant Kill Switch
AgentWall's kill switch provides immediate termination of any agent run. One click in the dashboard or one API call stops the agent instantly. No hunting for processes, no service restarts, no delays.
Key Features
- Instant termination: Stop agents in under 1 second
- Dashboard control: One-click kill from the web interface
- API access: Programmatic termination for automation
- Automatic triggers: Kill switches activate based on policies
- Audit logging: All kill switch actions are logged
How It Works
Manual Kill Switch
In the AgentWall dashboard, every active run has a kill button. Click it and the run terminates immediately. The agent receives a termination signal and stops processing.
Use manual kill switches when you notice problems: unusual costs, unexpected behavior, or security concerns.
Automatic Kill Switch
Configure automatic triggers that activate kill switches based on conditions:
- Budget exceeded: Kill runs that exceed cost limits
- Loop detected: Terminate infinite loops automatically
- Time limit: Stop runs that take too long
- Security violation: Kill runs that trigger security alerts
- Custom rules: Define your own termination conditions
Automatic kill switches provide protection without manual monitoring. Problems are caught and stopped immediately.
API-Based Kill Switch
Integrate kill switches into your monitoring systems:
curl -X POST https://api.agentwall.io/v1/runs/{run_id}/kill \
-H "X-AgentWall-Key: aw_your_key_here" \
-d '{"reason": "Detected anomaly in external monitoring"}'API access enables custom automation: kill switches triggered by your own detection logic, integrated with existing alerting systems, or activated by external events.
Use Cases
Infinite Loop Protection
An agent gets stuck in a loop, calling the same tool repeatedly. AgentWall detects the repetition and automatically triggers the kill switch. The loop is stopped before significant costs accumulate.
Budget Enforcement
A run approaches its budget limit. Rather than letting it continue and exceed the budget, the kill switch activates automatically. Spending is controlled precisely.
Security Response
Security monitoring detects a potential prompt injection attack. The kill switch stops the agent immediately, preventing potential data leakage or unauthorized actions.
Emergency Stop
You notice an agent behaving unexpectedly in production. Rather than debugging while it continues operating, you hit the kill switch. The agent stops immediately, preventing further issues while you investigate.
Configuration
Automatic Triggers
Configure kill switch triggers in Policies → Kill Switch:
Budget Triggers
- Hard budget limit: Kill at exact budget (e.g., $5.00)
- Soft budget warning: Alert at 80%, kill at 100%
- Rate-based: Kill if spending rate exceeds threshold
Loop Detection Triggers
- Repetition count: Kill after N repeated actions
- Step limit: Kill runs exceeding maximum steps
- Output similarity: Kill if outputs are too similar
Time-Based Triggers
- Maximum duration: Kill runs exceeding time limit
- Idle timeout: Kill runs with no activity
Notification Settings
Configure alerts when kill switches activate:
- Email: Immediate notification of terminations
- Slack: Real-time alerts in team channels
- Webhook: Integrate with incident management systems
Safety Features
Graceful Termination
Kill switches attempt graceful shutdown first. The agent receives a termination signal and can clean up resources. If graceful shutdown fails, forced termination ensures the agent stops.
State Preservation
When a run is killed, AgentWall preserves its state. You can review what the agent was doing, why it was killed, and what led to the termination. This data supports debugging and prevention.
Audit Trail
Every kill switch activation is logged comprehensively:
- Who triggered the kill switch (user or automatic)
- When it was triggered
- Why (reason or policy violation)
- Run state at termination
- Cost at termination
Audit trails support compliance, debugging, and process improvement.
Best Practices
Set Appropriate Limits
Configure kill switch triggers based on realistic limits. Too aggressive and you'll kill legitimate runs. Too lenient and problems escalate before termination.
Start conservative and tune based on experience.
Monitor Activations
Review why kill switches activate. Frequent activations indicate underlying problems: inefficient agents, unrealistic budgets, or bugs requiring fixes.
Test Kill Switches
Periodically test kill switch functionality. Ensure manual and automatic termination works correctly. Verify alerts are delivered.
Document Procedures
Establish clear procedures for kill switch usage. Who can trigger manual kills? What conditions justify termination? How should teams respond to automatic kills?
Integration with Other Features
Loop Detection
Kill switches work seamlessly with loop detection. When loops are detected, kill switches terminate them automatically.
Budget Management
Kill switches enforce budget limits precisely. Runs can't exceed budgets because they're terminated at the limit.
Security Policies
Security violations can trigger kill switches. Potential attacks are stopped immediately, limiting damage.
Enterprise Features
Role-Based Access
Control who can trigger kill switches. Restrict manual termination to authorized users. Audit all kill switch access.
Approval Workflows
Require approval for manual kills in production. This safeguard prevents accidental termination of legitimate runs.
Custom Triggers
Enterprise plans support custom kill switch logic. Define complex conditions based on multiple signals, external data, or business rules.
Conclusion
The kill switch is your ultimate safety net for AI agents. When things go wrong—and they will—you need the ability to stop agents immediately. AgentWall provides that control.
Configure kill switches today and never lose control of your AI agents again. Guard the Agent, Save the Budget!
Frequently Asked Questions
Termination typically completes in under 1 second. The agent receives a termination signal immediately and stops processing.
In-flight LLM requests are allowed to complete or timeout naturally. No new requests are initiated. The run is marked as killed and no further operations occur.
No. Once killed, a run cannot be resumed. However, you can start a new run with the same parameters if the termination was accidental.
No limits. You can kill any run at any time. However, frequent kills indicate underlying problems that should be addressed.