Sentinel Vaults

Wrap one yield strategy in a Meta Vault so a role holder can pause or reallocate it without a user signature.

A Sentinel Vault is a Meta Vault deployment configured with exactly one strategy instead of a diversified portfolio. It runs on the same ERC-4626 vault contract, the same roles, and the same on-chain functions as a multi-strategy Meta Vault. Only the configuration differs: one entry in the strategy set instead of several, and the full target weight assigned to it.

Because a Sentinel Vault sits on the Meta Vault contract rather than the fixed-strategy OAV v3 contract, its wrapped strategy is not fixed at deployment. A role holder can swap it, pause the vault, or pull capital back to idle without migrating users or changing the vault address.

What it is, and what it isn’t

Users hold shares in the vault, not a direct position in the wrapped strategy, so a role holder can pause the vault or move its capital without collecting a signature from every depositor. That capability is real and on-chain, and it is what “Sentinel” refers to.

Nothing in the vault contract or in yield.xyz’s automation code evaluates a strategy for signs of an exploit or a depeg and triggers a pause or exit on its own. Pausing and reallocation are manual, role-gated transactions, identical to the ones available on any Meta Vault.

A Sentinel Vault does not automatically detect or respond to incidents. Pausing and moving capital out of the wrapped strategy are manual actions a role holder executes; no monitoring integration in the current codebase triggers them on its own.

Where the protection applies

Capability	Mechanism	Role
Halt deposits, mints, withdrawals, and redemptions	setPaused(true)	PAUSER_ROLE
Pull capital out of the wrapped strategy back to idle	rebalance() after the strategy’s weight is set to 0, or a direct exit call	REBALANCER_ROLE
Replace the wrapped strategy with a different one	setMetaAssets()	STRATEGIST_ROLE

These are the same functions covered in Roles & signing models. A Sentinel Vault does not add new on-chain capabilities; it applies the existing Meta Vault controls to a single strategy.

How it differs from an OAV or a multi-strategy Meta Vault

	OAV v3	Sentinel Vault	Multi-strategy Meta Vault
Strategies held	One, fixed at deployment	One, replaceable	Multiple, weighted
Change strategy without a new deployment	No	Yes	Yes
Reallocate to idle on request	No dedicated mechanism	Yes	Yes, per strategy
Typical use	A single yield source with standard fees and reward claiming	A single yield source where you also want the option to pull capital or swap strategy without migrating users	A diversified, weight-optimized portfolio

Integration boundary

Sentinel Vaults are ERC-4626 vaults: integrate them through the standard deposit, mint, withdraw, and redeem flow described in Meta Vaults. yield.xyz requests, deploys, and operates the contract. Depending on the deployment’s signing model, a pause or strategy change is executed by yield.xyz’s designated signer or approved through a client-controlled multisig; see Roles and signing models. See the dashboard guide for how a Sentinel Vault is requested and its status monitored.

Next steps

Meta Vaults

The multi-strategy model a Sentinel Vault is a single-strategy case of.

Roles and signing models

Who can pause, reallocate, or replace a strategy, and how.