---
title: "Discussion on \"Permissions vs. Policies in LLM Systems: What Matters Where\" | Hashnode"
description: "Discussion on \"Permissions vs. Policies in LLM Systems: What Matters Where\". Permissions set what an LLM agent can do. Policies decide what it should do. Why system prompts aren't security controls, and where each belongs."
url: "https://hashnode.com/posts/permissions-vs-policies-in-llm-systems-what-matters-where/6aa2d6ca02629ff0ef91bd19"
---

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# [Permissions vs. Policies in LLM Systems: What Matters Where](https://breakglass.hashnode.dev/permissions-vs-policies-in-llm-systems-what-matters-where?utm_source=hashnode&utm_medium=feed)

Permissions set what an LLM agent can do. Policies decide what it should do. Why system prompts aren't security controls, and where each belongs.

Sep 10 · 7 min read · breakglass.hashnode.dev  
Read the article

-   [#llm-security](https://hashnode.com/tag/llm-security)
-   [#ai-agents](https://hashnode.com/tag/ai-agents)
-   [#prompt](https://hashnode.com/tag/prompt)
-   [#promptinjections](https://hashnode.com/tag/promptinjections)
-   [#permissions](https://hashnode.com/tag/permissions)
-   [#policy](https://hashnode.com/tag/policy)
-   [#policy-as-code](https://hashnode.com/tag/policy-as-code)

## Written by

[Christian Johannsen](https://hashnode.com/@cjohannsen)

@cjohannsen · Gilbert, AZ

  
[View profile](https://hashnode.com/@cjohannsen)

Container security, supply chains, and the tooling gaps nobody built yet

I'm a Staff Solutions Architect at Chainguard, where I help teams adopt secure software supply chains. My career spans from early '90s networking through modern DevSecOps, container security, and AI implementations. Break Glass Notes is where I write about the practical gaps I hit in the field — the questions dashboards can't answer, the feeds that don't exist, and the tooling I end up building to fill them. Expect posts on container images, SBOMs, FIPS compliance, CVE tooling, and the occasional deep dive into registry APIs.

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