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The Approval mode decides each write that no Rule covers. Each run uses one mode: Manual or Auto.

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Why Approval mode

  • Rules first, mode second. A Rule always decides first, in every mode.
  • One choice covers the rest. Set the workspace mode once, and every run uses it.
  • Tighter where it matters. A run type, an Automation, or one chat can pick its own mode.
  • No person, no wait. Runs that no person can answer refuse instead of waiting.

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The modes

Under Auto, a write goes through these steps:
  1. Your Rules allow, ask, or deny the write. This step is always on.
  2. AI judgment allows a safe write that no Rule covers. You can turn this step off.
  3. If still not allowed, the write either waits for a person (Ask me) or is refused (Refuse).
The picker names each Auto choice by its steps: Reads always run, in every mode. When AI judgment cannot finish its check, the write goes to step 3. New workspaces start in Auto · Rules + AI · Ask me.

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Set the workspace mode

1

Open the Approval mode tab

Open Approvals → Approval mode.
2

Pick the mode

Under Workspace mode, open the picker. Select Manual, or select Auto and set AI judgment and If still not allowed.Success state: the picker shows your choice, such as Auto · Rules + AI · Ask me. It applies at once, with no confirm step.
You need the workspace Admin role to change a mode. Other roles see “View only. Ask a workspace admin to change these.”

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Set a mode for a run type

A run type can use its own mode, also a looser one. Each row reads Same as workspace until you click Override. Click Reset to follow the workspace again. No person can answer an Optimize or Review run, so Ask me becomes Refuse there.

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Set a mode for one Automation or one chat

  • One Automation: open the Automation and use its approval picker. Default follows the Automations run type.
  • One chat: open the approval control in the chat prompt box, or type / and pick Approval. Reset to default follows the run type and workspace again.
A chat pick never changes the workspace mode. Before the first message, your pick is a draft, and the first message saves it. The agent is told about each change. Under Chat composer, the switch Let people pick AI judgment for one chat limits what people can pick for one chat. When it is off, people can pick only Manual or Auto with AI judgment off. The workspace and run type modes still apply.

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Which mode a run uses

The most specific mode that someone set wins, even when it is looser:
  1. The mode picked for this chat
  2. The mode of the Automation that started the run
  3. The mode of the run type
  4. The workspace mode
For example, a workspace in Manual with Automations on Auto · Rules + AI · Refuse runs a scheduled Automation in Auto.

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FAQ

No. Ask first and Deny Rules still apply. Manual only stops an Allow Rule or AI judgment from running a write without a person.
Automations use Auto · Rules + AI · Refuse by default, because no person may be there to answer. Accept a Rule for that write, or set the Automation to an Ask me choice.
A write that matches what you asked for and stays in its scope. A destructive write or a write with an unclear effect goes to step 3. A destructive write that waits for a person also raises a high-severity alert.
Yes, when the Let people pick AI judgment for one chat switch is on. Otherwise you see “An admin turned off AI judgment in conversations.”

Approvals

See how Rules, the mode, and approvers decide each write

Approval Rules

Accept Rules so common writes do not depend on the mode

Automations

Run agent instructions on schedules, webhooks, and repository events

Autonomous Operations

See what runs without a live prompt and how the mode bounds it