Getting Started with Clausi

Overview

Clausi CLI runs entirely on your machine - your source code never touches Clausi's infrastructure. It analyzes your code locally, sending file content only to your own Anthropic or OpenAI API key, and generates a compliance report in the format of your choice (PDF, HTML, JSON). Because Clausi is never in the data path, there's no new vendor to onboard or DPA to negotiate before you can get started.

Supported Regulatory Frameworks

KeyRegulation
EU-AIAEuropean Union Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act)
GDPRGeneral Data Protection Regulation
ISO-42001ISO/IEC 42001:2023 - AI Management System Standard
HIPAAHealth Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
SOC2SOC 2 - System and Organization Controls Type 2

Additional frameworks can be added on the server side without requiring a client update.

Installation

pip install clausi

Requires Python 3.8 or higher

Quick Start

1. Run Your First Scan

Choose your preferred approach:

RECOMMENDED

Interactive Mode

Guided wizard - perfect for first-time users

clausi

You'll see a menu you can navigate with arrow keys:

What would you like to do?

→ 1. Scan a project for compliance

  2. View configuration

  3. List available AI models

  4. Run setup wizard

  5. Show help

  6. Exit Clausi

Use ↑↓ arrows to navigate, Enter to select

The wizard guides you through:

  • Selecting your project folder
  • Choosing AI provider (Claude or OpenAI)
  • Picking regulations to scan against
  • Optional cost-saving presets
POWER USER

Direct Commands

Run scans directly from the command line

clausi scan . -r EU-AIA

Common examples:

Scan with Claude:

clausi scan . -r EU-AIA --claude

Scan with OpenAI:

clausi scan . -r EU-AIA --openai

Multiple regulations:

clausi scan . -r EU-AIA -r GDPR -r SOC2

Interactive Scan Wizard Preview

When you select "Scan a project" in interactive mode, you'll be guided through each step:

Step 1: Select Project

How would you like to specify the path?

→ 1. Current directory (.)

  2. Open file explorer...

  3. Browse in terminal...

  4. Type path manually

Step 2: Select AI Provider

Select AI provider:

→ 1. Claude

  2. OpenAI

Step 3: Select Regulations (multi-select)

Select regulations (Enter to toggle):

→ ✓ EU-AIA - EU AI Act

  ✓ GDPR - General Data Protection

    ISO-42001 - AI Management

    HIPAA - Health Insurance

    SOC2 - Service Organization

  ── Done (selected: 2) ──

Step 4: Run Scan

Running command:

clausi scan "." -r EU-AIA --open-findings

Scan starts automatically...

2. AI Provider Options

Clausi is free to run — bring your own Anthropic or OpenAI API key and pay your provider directly for usage:

Claude

Set your Anthropic API key:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-your-key-here

Get key from: console.anthropic.com

OpenAI

Set your OpenAI API key:

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-your-key-here

Get key from: platform.openai.com/api-keys

3. Custom Regulations (Optional)

Beyond the built-in regulations, you can define your own compliance rules tailored to your organization's specific policies, industry standards, or internal requirements.

Why Custom Regulations?

  • •Internal Policies: Enforce company-specific coding standards and security requirements
  • •Industry Standards: Add compliance checks for domain-specific frameworks not yet built-in
  • •Client Requirements: Meet specific contractual obligations with auditable evidence
  • •Evolving Regulations: Quickly adapt to new laws before official Clausi support

Create a custom regulation YAML file:

# ~/.clausi/custom_regulations/company-security.yml
name: "Company Security Policy"
description: "Internal security requirements for AI systems"
version: "1.0"

clauses:
  - id: "SEC-001"
    title: "Authentication Requirements"
    requirements:
      - "All AI endpoints must require authentication"
      - "API keys must not be hardcoded in source"
    severity: "critical"

  - id: "SEC-002"
    title: "Data Logging"
    requirements:
      - "All model inputs must be logged for audit"
      - "PII must be masked before logging"
    severity: "high"

Storage locations:

Global (all projects)

~/.clausi/custom_regulations/*.yml

Project-specific

.clausi/regulations/*.yml

Use your custom regulation:

clausi scan . -r EU-AIA -r COMPANY-SECURITY

The regulation name is derived from the filename (e.g., company-security.yml → COMPANY-SECURITY)

4. View Your Results

After the scan completes, reports are saved to your project's clausi/ folder:

  • findings.md - Main compliance findings
  • compliance_report.pdf - Executive PDF report
  • traceability_matrix.md - Code-to-clause mapping

Tip: Use --open-findings to auto-open results in your editor.