Autonomy
What this is for. Autonomy is the safety dial. Per class of action you choose Notice (ask first), Approve (propose + one-click), or Auto (do it and report). Outbound and irreversible actions stay locked at Notice. The same page is the pending approvals queue that parks a run until you decide.
When to use it
Section titled “When to use it”- A conversation is Waiting approval and you need to Approve or Reject without guessing what is parked.
- You want reversible work (file edits, research) to run at Auto, but never raise a locked outbound class.
- A resume failed after you already approved — the stuck row still needs you.
- You want to turn heartbeats, Forge proposals, or identity self-update on or off as feature flags.
Typical workflow
Section titled “Typical workflow”- Open Autonomy in the sidebar (Monitoring section) — route
/autonomy. Feature flags live under Settings → System (Autonomy features card). - Read Pending approvals. For each row, Approve or Reject. Follow Run waiting on this into the conversation if you need context.
- Under Reversible, set a category to Notice / Approve / Auto (locked categories cannot go above Notice).
- The parked run should resume (or stay stopped on reject). Home Attention and the conversation Waiting approval badge should clear.
Features
Section titled “Features”Autonomy controls unattended behaviour: how much an agent may do per class of action, and what requires human approval. Powerful loops stay off by default.
Principles
Section titled “Principles”- Powerful loops are off by default (see Dashboard nudge).
- Approvals surface under Dashboard Needs attention and conversation Waiting approval.
- Config may also gate identity self-update (
autonomy.identitySelfUpdatein YAML).
Approval queue and levels
Section titled “Approval queue and levels”Route: /autonomy. Subtitle in the app explains that irreversible / outbound actions are locked at Notice.
Pending approvals
Section titled “Pending approvals”| Control | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending approvals | Queue of parked requests |
| Nothing waiting for approval. | Empty queue |
| Category · tool | What is being asked |
| Reason | Why the gate fired |
| Run waiting on this | Link to the parked run / conversation |
| Approve / Reject | Decide — approve tries to resume the run |
| Could not resume: … | Approval already decided, but the run did not restart (stuck resume) |
Levels (per category)
Section titled “Levels (per category)”| Level | Label | Hint |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Notice | Ask first |
| 2 | Approve | Propose + one-click approval |
| 3 | Auto | Autonomous + report after |
Categories split into Reversible (you may raise the level) and Outbound / irreversible (locked) (cannot go above Notice — a safety floor).
Settings (Autonomy features card)
Section titled “Settings (Autonomy features card)”Enable/disable individual loops such as (names as shown in UI):
| Area | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Heartbeat / proactive checks | Periodic “is there something to do?” |
| Reflection / briefing | Morning briefing content |
| Forge proposals | Auto-suggested identity/soul changes |
| Self-learning / skill evolution | Learn from usage (still reviewable) |
| Identity self-update | Agent may edit IDENTITY directly vs Forge-only |
Toggle labels live in Settings locales (autonomy-features-card). Each toggle is feature flag only — it does not delete data.
Dashboard surfaces
Section titled “Dashboard surfaces”| Surface | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Autonomy nudge | Opt-in explanation + link to settings |
| Home Attention | Pending approval items and stuck resumes |
| Conversation Waiting approval | Run blocked on you |
| Telegram Approve / Deny | Same decide path as this queue, for yellow/red tools. Ping goes to the thread’s Telegram mapping, else an approved pairing. No raw tool args. See Telegram |