---
layout: docs
page_title: Sentinel in Consul (Enterprise)
description: >-
  Sentinel is an access-control-policy-as-code framework and language. Learn how Consul can use Sentinel policies to extend the ACL system's capabilities and further secure your clusters by controlling key-value (KV) store write access.
---

# Sentinel in Consul

<EnterpriseAlert>

This feature requires
HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP) or self-managed Consul Enterprise.
Refer to the [enterprise feature matrix](/consul/docs/enterprise#consul-enterprise-feature-availability) for additional information.

</EnterpriseAlert>

Sentinel policies extend the ACL system in Consul beyond static "read", "write",
and "deny" policies to support full conditional logic and integration with
external systems. Reference the [Sentinel documentation](https://docs.hashicorp.com/sentinel/concepts) for high-level Sentinel concepts.

To get started with Sentinel in Consul,
[read the general documentation](https://docs.hashicorp.com/sentinel/consul) or
[Consul documentation](/consul/docs/agent/sentinel).