---
title: "Kill switch"
description: "A tested mechanism to stop an agent or system from acting; a precondition of granting autonomy, registered against the agent's identity."
canonical: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/kill-switch
author: "Jorge García Aibar"
license: "CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)"
doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197
version: "0.5.0"
updated: 2026-09-25
---

# Kill switch

A tested mechanism to stop an agent or system from acting; a precondition of granting autonomy, registered against the agent's identity.

- Developed in: [ch. 05, Pattern: Kill Switch / Circuit Breaker](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/patterns#pattern-kill-switch--circuit-breaker); [ch. 23, Kill switch and per-agent circuit breakers](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/governing-agents#kill-switch-and-per-agent-circuit-breakers)
- Chapters: [ch. 03, Values & Principles](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/values-and-principles) · [ch. 05, Patterns](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/patterns) · [ch. 23, AI Agents](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/governing-agents)
- Contrast with: [Graduated degradation](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/graduated-degradation)
- In the glossary chapter: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/glossary#t-kill-switch

## Sources

Defined by this Body of Knowledge: the section it is developed in is the source.