Auto Mode

Choose Manual or Auto for a workspace and understand the decision path for catalogued agent write calls

Auto Mode is a workspace-scoped setting for catalogued agent write calls. It evaluates those writes before they run; catalogued reads skip the classifier.

Why Auto Mode

• One workspace choice. Select Manual or Auto once for the workspace, not separately for each chat.
• Write decisions stay visible. Each catalogued write receives a recorded outcome before it runs.
• Reads keep their path. Catalogued reads skip the Auto Mode classifier.
• Manual remains available. Switch back to Manual when you want Tool Permissions to control each connection tool directly.

Choose Manual or Auto

1. Open a chat

   Open any chat in the workspace you want to configure.

2. Open Agent settings

   Open Agent settings from the pill on the right of the chat prompt box. This is a different control from Chat Settings, which is the gear icon beside the + button.

3. Select the workspace mode

   Under Approval, select Manual or Auto.

   Success state: the selected mode appears in Agent settings and applies to every conversation in the workspace. The change takes effect immediately, with no confirmation step.

Select Manual or Auto from Agent settings; the separate control in this older capture is not the current switch.

Catalogued reads and Tool Permissions

A catalogued read is a tool CloudThinker knows as read-only. In Auto mode, catalogued reads skip the classifier. In Manual mode, a connection tool configured as Needs approval can pause even when it is a read.

Tool Permissions are enforced in Manual mode. Open Approval, select Tool Permissions, then set each connection tool to Always allow, Needs approval, or Never allow. When Auto is selected, Auto Mode is the active gate for catalogued connection calls; the per-tool setting is not evaluated, and each row shows a read-only Classifier or Allowed badge instead of the segmented control.

A tool CloudThinker cannot classify is treated as a write, so the classifier decides rather than letting it through. For an MCP connection tool, its Needs approval setting is what marks it a write.

Tool Permissions control each connection tool separately.

Decision outcomes

Decision	What happens
allow	The catalogued write runs and its decision is recorded
require_approval	The agent pauses for one inline approval call on that tool call
escalate	The agent stops the escalated action and raises a high-severity alert. Only the same authenticated user can approve one exact unchanged retry from a later explicit message in the same conversation before the escalation expires.
hard_deny	The tool never runs, and no chat approval can override the decision

An escalation latches new writes to the escalated path for the rest of that turn. A repeated escalation also latches new writes for that turn.

If the classifier is unavailable or times out, the write falls back to require_approval so a person still decides. The decision log marks it as degraded rather than a real classifier verdict.

What you see in chat

An allowed catalogued write stays visible in the chat with its Auto Mode result.

The chat records the Auto Mode result beside the tool action.

FAQ

Is Auto Mode per chat or per workspace?

It is workspace-scoped. Select Manual or Auto from Agent settings in any chat for that workspace.

Can a read tool pause for approval?

Yes, in Manual mode. Set that connection tool to Needs approval in Tool Permissions.

How can an escalated action run later?

Only the same authenticated user can approve one exact unchanged retry from a later explicit message in the same conversation before the escalation expires.

Can I approve a hard-denied action in chat?

No. A hard-denied action never runs and chat cannot override it.

Related

Approval

Configure per-tool permissions and inline approvals

Capabilities

What agents can produce — dashboards, reports, slides

Agents

How agents work and collaborate

Connections

Set up cloud and service connections