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

# Policies & Modes

> Controlling how Krixai handles detected threats

### Detection Modes

Krixai operates in one of three modes, which determines what happens when a threat is detected.

| Mode         | Behavior                                                                              | When to Use                                                            |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Shadow**   | Scan everything, log detections, but **never block**. Requests always pass through.   | First week of integration. See what Krixai catches without any risk.   |
| **Advisory** | Scan and add detection results as response headers. Don't block. Let your app decide. | When you want your application logic to handle the decision.           |
| **Blocking** | Scan and **actively block** detected threats. Return error response to the client.    | Production. Once you've validated false positive rates in Shadow mode. |

### Overriding Mode via Header

You can set your default mode in the dashboard, but you can also override it per-request using the `X-Krixai-Mode` header:

```bash theme={null}
# Override mode per-request
curl https://api.krixaisecurity.com/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "X-Krixai-Key: kx-live-..." \
  -H "X-Krixai-Mode: shadow" \
  ...
```