diff --git a/src/guardrails/index.ts b/src/guardrails/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..89b6575
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/guardrails/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+// List of dangerous command patterns that should be blocked
+// Patterns are case-insensitive and stored in lowercase for efficiency
+//
+// NOTE: This is a basic substring-based approach that provides a first line of defense.
+// Future improvements could include:
+// - More comprehensive pattern list (sudo variants, different spacing, etc.)
+// - Word boundary checking to avoid false positives on filenames
+// - Command structure parsing to identify actual operations
+// - Allowlist approach for additional security
+const DENYLIST = [
+  "rm -rf /",
+  "rm -rf/*",
+  "rm -rf /.",
+  "shutdown",
+  "reboot",
+  ":(){ :|:& };:",
+  "mkfs",
+  "dd if=",
+];
+
+// Pre-computed lowercase versions for efficient checking
+const DENYLIST_LOWER = DENYLIST.map((token) => token.toLowerCase());
+
+/**
+ * Enforces guardrails to prevent execution of dangerous shell commands
+ * @param command The command to check
+ * @param allowShell Whether shell commands are allowed
+ * @throws Error if the command is blocked by guardrails
+ */
+export function enforceGuardrails(command: string, allowShell: boolean): void {
+  if (!allowShell) {
+    throw new Error("Shell commands are disabled by configuration.");
+  }
+
+  const lower = command.toLowerCase();
+  const blockedIndex = DENYLIST_LOWER.findIndex((token) =>
+    lower.includes(token),
+  );
+  if (blockedIndex !== -1) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `Command blocked by guardrails: ${DENYLIST[blockedIndex]}`,
+    );
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/loz.ts b/src/loz.ts
index ed03ee0..05afa8d 100644
--- a/src/loz.ts
+++ b/src/loz.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import {
   requestApiKey,
 } from "./config";
 import { Git } from "./git";
+import { enforceGuardrails } from "./guardrails";
 
 // Get the path to the home directory
 const HOME_PATH = os.homedir() || "";
@@ -563,6 +564,8 @@ export class Loz {
     if (answer.toLowerCase() === "y") {
       for (const cmd of commands) {
         try {
+          // Enforce guardrails to prevent dangerous commands
+          enforceGuardrails(cmd, true);
           await runCommand(cmd);
         } catch (error: any) {
           if (typeof error === "string" && error.indexOf("No output") === 0) {
diff --git a/test/guardrails.test.ts b/test/guardrails.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..251f1c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/guardrails.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+import { expect } from "chai";
+import "mocha";
+import { enforceGuardrails } from "../src/guardrails";
+
+describe("Guardrails Test", () => {
+  describe("enforceGuardrails", () => {
+    it("should throw error when shell is disabled", () => {
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails("ls -la", false)).to.throw(
+        "Shell commands are disabled by configuration.",
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("should allow safe commands", () => {
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails("ls -la", true)).to.not.throw();
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails("cd /tmp", true)).to.not.throw();
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails("echo hello", true)).to.not.throw();
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails("cat file.txt", true)).to.not.throw();
+    });
+
+    it("should block rm -rf /", () => {
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails("rm -rf /", true)).to.throw(
+        "Command blocked by guardrails: rm -rf /",
+      );
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails("RM -RF /", true)).to.throw(
+        "Command blocked by guardrails: rm -rf /",
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("should block rm -rf / bypass attempts", () => {
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails("rm -rf/*", true)).to.throw(
+        "Command blocked by guardrails",
+      );
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails("rm -rf /.", true)).to.throw(
+        "Command blocked by guardrails",
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("should block shutdown", () => {
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails("shutdown now", true)).to.throw(
+        "Command blocked by guardrails: shutdown",
+      );
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails("SHUTDOWN", true)).to.throw(
+        "Command blocked by guardrails: shutdown",
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("should block reboot", () => {
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails("reboot", true)).to.throw(
+        "Command blocked by guardrails: reboot",
+      );
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails("sudo reboot", true)).to.throw(
+        "Command blocked by guardrails: reboot",
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("should block fork bomb", () => {
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails(":(){ :|:& };:", true)).to.throw(
+        "Command blocked by guardrails: :(){ :|:& };:",
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("should block mkfs", () => {
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails("mkfs /dev/sda", true)).to.throw(
+        "Command blocked by guardrails: mkfs",
+      );
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails("mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1", true)).to.throw(
+        "Command blocked by guardrails: mkfs",
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("should block dd if=", () => {
+      expect(() =>
+        enforceGuardrails("dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda", true),
+      ).to.throw("Command blocked by guardrails: dd if=");
+    });
+
+    it("should allow commands with similar but safe patterns", () => {
+      // These should be allowed as they don't match the blocked patterns
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails("rm file.txt", true)).to.not.throw();
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails("rm -r /tmp/test", true)).to.not.throw();
+      expect(() => enforceGuardrails("dd status=progress", true)).to.not.throw();
+    });
+  });
+});