YAML Policy Template for Customer Service Bots

Customer service agents interact directly with end users and access sensitive account data. Their policies must balance helpfulness with strict controls on what information is shared and what actions are taken.

version: "1.0"
name: "customer-service-policy"
description: "Policy for customer-facing support agents"

defaults:
  action: deny
  log: true
  notify: false

rules:
  # Allow reading customer account info
  - name: "allow-account-lookup"
    match:
      tool: "lookup_account"
    action: allow

  # Allow reading order status
  - name: "allow-order-status"
    match:
      tool: "get_order_status"
    action: allow

  # Allow reading knowledge base articles
  - name: "allow-kb-search"
    match:
      tool: "search_knowledge_base"
    action: allow

  # Allow small refunds automatically
  - name: "allow-small-refunds"
    match:
      tool: "process_refund"
      parameters:
        amount:
          max: 50.00
        currency: "USD"
    action: allow

  # Require approval for larger refunds
  - name: "approve-large-refunds"
    match:
      tool: "process_refund"
      parameters:
        amount:
          min: 50.01
    action: approve
    approval:
      timeout: 600
      approvers: ["support-supervisor"]

  # Allow creating support tickets
  - name: "allow-ticket-creation"
    match:
      tool: "create_ticket"
    action: allow

  # Block account modifications
  - name: "block-account-changes"
    match:
      tool:
        in: ["update_account", "delete_account", "change_password"]
    action: deny

  # Block access to internal tools
  - name: "block-internal-tools"
    match:
      tool:
        pattern: "^internal_"
    action: deny

Design principles for customer service policies:

Tiered financial authority. Small refunds process automatically. Larger amounts require supervisor approval. This matches how human agents operate: they have spending limits, and amounts above those limits escalate.

Read-heavy permissions. The agent can look up account information and order status without restriction. This enables fast, helpful responses to common questions.

Account modification lockout. The agent cannot change passwords, update addresses, or delete accounts. These actions require human intervention through a separate, authenticated channel.

Knowledge base access. Unrestricted access to the knowledge base lets the agent provide accurate, consistent answers drawn from approved documentation.

Tune the refund threshold based on your business rules. Monitor denial rates to identify common requests the agent cannot handle, and evaluate whether those actions should be added with appropriate controls.