Permissions and safety

Before tCode writes a file, edits one, or runs a shell command, it stops and shows you exactly what it is about to do, then waits for you to say yes.

tCode wants permission → write_file
File: tests/test_checkout.py (612 characters)
Allow? [y/N/always]: 

Answering a prompt

This prompt appears every time, for every non-read-only tool call, unless you have already told tCode to stop asking for that specific tool.

Setting auto-approve ahead of time

If you already know you want a given tool to run without asking, from the very start of a session rather than after saying always once, /config auto-approve <tool> on|off sets that ahead of time and persists it across future sessions too, not just the current one.

Warnings on unusual destinations

The permission prompt also does more than repeat the raw arguments back to you.

How plan mode sits in front of this

Plan mode (see Plan mode) sits in front of this entire system: while it is active, nothing that would normally trigger a permission prompt runs at all, it is recorded as part of the plan instead, and you review the whole plan at once before anything happens.

Declining is not ending the turn

Declining an action is not the same as ending the turn.

How auto-approve is scoped

Auto-approve is scoped per tool, not per project or per session in a way that would need re-declaring constantly: turning on auto-approve for bash applies the next time tCode starts, in any folder, on that same account.

Why the prompt is deliberately plain

The permission prompt is deliberately plain rather than summarized or abbreviated: for a file write, you see the actual target path and the size of what is being written; for a shell command, you see the literal command as it will run, not a paraphrase of what it is expected to do.

Why your own judgment still matters

None of this replaces your own judgment about a specific change.

Why you cannot pre-approve a whole turn

There is no way to pre-approve an entire turn in advance, only individual tool calls or a whole tool going forward with always or auto-approve.