Safety and crisis protocol

What this is, and is not

Every Keel-powered program is a structured coaching program built with a creator, with an AI companion that supports members between live sessions. It is not therapy, counseling, psychotherapy, or medical care, and it never claims to be.

The companion discloses that it is an AI at the start of every conversation surface and on request. It will never represent itself as a human, a therapist, or a medical professional.

If you are in crisis

If you or someone you know is in danger right now, call or text 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, 24/7, free, US) or call 911. Do this first; everything else can wait.

How the companion handles crisis language

Messages are screened for suicide, self-harm, and overdose language before the AI model ever sees them, and the model's replies are screened again on the way out. When crisis language is detected, the coaching conversation stops and the member is shown the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, 911, and the in-app Crisis Support path. This interruption is deterministic software, not AI judgment: it does not depend on the model behaving well.

The companion never provides methods, means, or encouragement related to self-harm under any circumstance, and it does not resume normal coaching in a conversation where crisis language was detected until the member has been shown crisis resources.

Medical questions

Detox and withdrawal can be medically dangerous. The companion refuses to advise on medication, dosing, tapering, detox, or withdrawal, and instead routes members to a doctor or licensed care. Severe symptoms (shaking, confusion, seizures, hallucinations) are routed to 911 and 988.

Clinician oversight

Licensed clinicians oversee the companion's guardrails, review conversation quality and safety, and govern the escalation protocols. Their role is administrative and quality review. The AI does not deliver therapy on their behalf, and clinician oversight does not turn the program into treatment.

Adults only

Programs are for adults 18 and older. Enrollment requires an age attestation, and the companion is instructed to stop coaching and point to appropriate resources, including 988 and the Trevor Project, if a user indicates they are under 18.

Your data

What members share with the companion is used to run the program: to power the conversation, to enforce the safety screens, and for clinician quality review. Member conversations are not sold, and they are not shared with advertisers or data brokers.