Approve Factory only after the deployment pattern, data flows, model and key policy, command limits, secret blocking, and identity and audit are set. Pick the deployment pattern first, because it decides where code, prompts, and telemetry may travel.
When you need this
- Security must approve Factory before engineers connect company repositories.
- Your data classification requires models or the control plane inside your own network.
- You are moving from individual plans to Business or Enterprise and need the controls confirmed.
Evaluation criteria
Deployment pattern
How far may code and prompts travel?
Look forCloud-managed runs Droid on laptops and CI with Factory cloud for orchestration. Hybrid keeps model and telemetry traffic inside your network. Fully air-gapped has no runtime connection to Factory. Factory Private, announced September 18, 2026, keeps the control plane and sensitive data in your VPC or data center. EU organizations keep session content and inference in Europe.
Data flows
What leaves the machine where Droid runs?
Look forDroid sends file contents only as part of model requests to the endpoints you configure, and it does not upload or index a copy of the repository. With direct enterprise endpoints for OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure OpenAI, Bedrock, or Vertex AI, Factory routes traffic straight to the provider. With your own gateway, the gateway's terms apply. Trace spans go only to your own collector.
Model and key policy
Which models and keys are allowed?
Look forSet a model allowlist and BYOK policy in organization-managed settings. Projects and users cannot weaken hard controls. BYOK keys stay local in settings.json. They do not reach Factory servers. Anthropic's Mythos-class models require admins to opt into 30-day retention.
Command controls
What can Droid run, and what contains it?
Look forSet the organization's maximum autonomy level. Use permission rules to block commands or require approval. Enable the OS-level sandbox to restrict writes to the working directory and network access to allowed domains. Factory states that command rules are not OS isolation, so run higher autonomy in containers or VMs.
Secrets
What stops credentials reaching a commit?
Look forEnforce Droid Shield through Enterprise Controls. It blocks Droid commits and pushes when added lines look like credentials. Ask support@factory.com to enable Droid Shield 2.0's learned detection. Read FACTORY_API_KEY from a secret store for CI and service accounts.
Identity and audit
Who can run Droid, and what is recorded?
Look forVerify your domain, then configure SAML or OIDC SSO and SCIM Directory Sync through WorkOS. Assign Owner, Manager, and User roles deliberately. Give automations service accounts. The organization audit log is documented for Enterprise owners and readable through the API. Factory lists SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and ISO 42001 reports in its Trust Center.
Questions to ask vendors
- Which deployment pattern does our data classification require, and does it need Factory Private?
- Which models and gateways are allowed, and is BYOK on or off?
- What is the organization's maximum autonomy level, and where is the sandbox enforced?
- Who holds the Owner role, and who reviews the audit log?
Red flags
- User-supplied keys and arbitrary endpoints allowed in a regulated environment.
- High autonomy permitted on developer hosts with production access.
- A self-managed source control server given a public address for Factory without a security review. Factory requires a public address for that connection.
- Telemetry with message content enabled without a decision on where it is stored.
Products in this piece
Sources
- Official documentation
- 16
- Factory docs: Factory for Enterprise
- Factory docs: Deployment Patterns
- Factory docs: Airgapped Deployment
- Factory docs: Data Flows & Privacy
- Factory docs: Enterprise Controls & Managed Settings
- Factory docs: Custom Models (BYOK)
- Factory docs: Available Models
- Factory docs: Autonomy Level
- Factory docs: Permission rules
- Factory docs: Sandbox
- Factory docs: Droid Shield
- Factory docs: Identity & Access
- Factory docs: Audit Log
- Factory docs: Self-Managed Source Control
- Factory: Security
- Factory news: Introducing Flexible Deployment Options (Sep 18, 2026)