pact-guards

Pact smart contracts use guards to enforce access control for read, write, and privileged actions. You can implement robust security by applying guard types like Keyset, User, Capability, and Escrow, then validating permissions using enforcement mechanisms.

Keyset guards in Pact authenticate actions based on cryptographic key ownership, while Capability guards manage permissions for specific privileged operations. Keysets handle multi-key authentication, whereas Capabilities scope access to enforce granular read-only versus write permissions within smart contract execution.

Multi-key authentication in Pact is set up using Keyset guards and define-keyset for rotation. You define the required keys, apply the keyset to namespace-aware definitions, and enforce it on transactions to ensure only authorized signatures can execute privileged contract actions.

Principal management in Pact uses create-principal, validate-principal, and is-principal functions to bind identities securely across namespaces. This enables namespace-aware keyset definitions, allowing auditable key rotation and secure identity verification within contract deployments.

Yes, escrow-style gating is supported in Pact deployments using Escrow guards. This guard type provides concrete prefixes and usage semantics to securely hold and release assets or permissions, ensuring auditable contract flows when enforcing conditional transaction execution.

You should rotate keysets in Pact smart contracts when managing principals across namespaces or updating authorized signers. Using define-keyset for rotation ensures secure identity binding and maintains auditable access control without disrupting existing contract enforcement patterns.