guardrails-lite vs guard
guardrails-lite is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by edtrackai. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Community GitHub marketplaces). guard is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by TracineHQ. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Claude Code: claude-plugins-community). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-23. This pair was picked by a reader, not by our comparison rule, so search engines are asked not to index the page.
Where each is published
| Marketplace |  guardrails-lite |  guard |
|---|---|---|
| Community marketplace davepoon/buildwithclaude | Listed Version: 0.1.0 Forks (GitHub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 0 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-community | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.5.0 Forks (GitHub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 0 Not marked · First seen |
Each figure is the marketplace's own and is never added up across marketplaces. A marketplace that publishes no figure shows none: no number is not zero.
The facts side by side
| Fact | guardrails-lite | guard |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) | 0 | 0 |
| Forks (GitHub) | 0 | 0 |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs | Installs as a plugin bundle | Installs as a plugin bundle |
| Transport | Not stated | Not stated |
| Tools it declares | Not published | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for | Not published | Not published |
| Hooks it runs (differs) | Not published | 8 |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | Not published | 8 |
| Licence (differs) | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/edtrackai/claude-code-guardrails-lite | github.com/tracinehq/guard |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 2 | 0 |
| First seen (differs) | 2026-10-16 | 2026-10-11 |
Lines where the two differ have a tinted background and bold values. Where the data itself says which value is better (more marketplaces, a larger figure of the same marketplace, a fresher release, a verified mark on a marketplace that lists both), the better one is also marked green with ▲ and the worse one red with ▼. Where it runs, the transport, the tools, the settings, hooks, the bundle's parts, the licence and the week's changes are marked only as different: more or fewer is not better in itself.
What each says it does
guardrails-lite
Pattern-based PreToolUse-style checks that deny .env reads (Read/Grep/Glob and Bash readers), git force pushes, and recursive rm on /, ~ or $HOME before Claude Code runs them. About 75 lines of dependency-free JavaScript.
guard
PreToolUse hooks for Claude Code that deny dangerous shell, git, and credential commands before they run: `rm -rf /` shapes, `git push --force`, `python -c` / `node -e` eval, pipe-to-shell, live credentials (`gh auth token`, `aws sts get-session-token`, `op read`), `git -c core.hooksPath=…` injection, silent commit reuse (`git commit -C HEAD~1`, `--reuse-message`). Each deny names the rule and prints a one-line override (`guard allowlist allow-command …`); decisions stream to a JSONL log the optional CLI reads (`pipx install tracine-guard`, then `guard noisy --since 24h` or `guard trace <session>`). Apache-2.0, no third-party deps. Defense in depth alongside Claude Code's own permissions — especially valuable for autonomous agent windows where no human is present to answer an ASK, so denies act as a hard floor. Not a sandbox or exfiltration boundary; see SECURITY.md.
How to run each
guardrails-lite As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add davepoon/buildwithclaude
/plugin install guardrails-lite@buildwithclaudeguard As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-community
/plugin install guard@claude-communityCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
Neither one's marketplaces publish a list of tools, so there is nothing to compare.
Settings each asks for
Neither one's marketplaces publish the settings it asks for.
What it can do: guardrails-lite · What it can do: guard · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from public marketplace files in GitHub repositories of their authors. Data comes from the public marketplace file https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-community/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.