Work modes

Choose whether to review approvals, automate work, or plan before making changes.

Choose how to work#

Press Shift+Tab in the input box to cycle through Ask → Auto → Plan. The current mode is shown near the input box.

Mode	Behavior	When to use it
Ask	Requests approval when required before running tools.	You want to review actions as work proceeds.
Auto	Runs work according to approval settings and asks when needed.	You want fewer manual approvals.
Plan	Investigates and proposes a plan before proceeding to execution after approval.	You want to agree on the approach and scope first.

You can revise a plan in conversation. For example: “Revise the plan so it preserves the screen design.”

Turn Yolo on or off#

Press Ctrl+Y to toggle Yolo. On macOS, ⌘Y also works when your terminal supports it. The first time you use it in a folder, read the notice and choose whether to proceed.

Yolo skips individual tool approvals. It is separate from Ask, Auto, and Plan; Shift+Tab does not enable it. Shift+Tab does not change modes while Yolo is on, so turn Yolo off with Ctrl+Y first.

Before automating actions#

Automatic execution does not guarantee safe or correct results. Define the scope and backups before work that deletes files, changes external services, or deploys software.

See Tools and permissions for approval behavior and access boundaries.

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