cff-version: 1.2.0
message: "If you use Recusal in your work, please cite it."
title: "Recusal: deterministic separation-of-powers governance for AI agents"
abstract: >-
  Recusal is a lightweight, zero-dependency, Claude-native library that places an
  independent, deterministic verifier in an autonomous agent's action path, one that can
  refuse to certify a tool call before it runs. The thing that generates the work must
  never be the thing that certifies it: no model sits in the decision path, so a verdict
  is replayable and auditable, including the refusal.
type: software
authors:
  - family-names: Paz
    given-names: Philip
    affiliation: "NexiNexta (https://www.nexinexta.com)"
    website: "https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippaz/"
license: Apache-2.0
repository-code: "https://github.com/philpaz/recusal"
url: "https://github.com/philpaz/recusal"
version: "0.1.3"
keywords:
  - ai-agents
  - agent-governance
  - determinism
  - separation-of-powers
  - claude
  - agent-safety
  - runtime-governance
