Approving every harmless action gets tedious; approving everything up front is reckless. Auto mode is the in-between: a classifier watches each action and lets the safe ones through while pausing the risky ones for you. In Claude Desktop you pick it from the mode selector — the same dropdown where you'd choose the recommended "Ask permissions" mode — so switching to the middle ground is one click. You keep moving on a long task without babysitting every routine step, and the genuinely dangerous moves still wait for a human. (In the terminal, /auto is the Power-Track way to switch it on.)
Permissions give you a dial between two extremes: approve every action by hand, or wave them all through. Both have a cost — the first is constant interruption, the second drops your guardrails entirely. Auto mode is the setting in the middle.
Instead of asking you about everything, a classifier sorts each action as it comes
up: safe, routine things (reads, tests, status checks) just run, while anything that
could do real damage still stops and waits for your yes. The result is a long task
that mostly flows on its own but never quietly does something irreversible behind
your back. In Claude Desktop, you choose this from the mode selector — one
click away from the recommended “Ask permissions” mode; in the terminal, the
Power-Track /auto command does the same.
For the actions you want to rule out completely, set a hard deny — a block that holds no matter what else is on the allowlist. That’s the right home for force-pushes, production deploys, or anything you’d never want running unattended. Auto mode handles the boring middle; hard deny guards the cliff edge.
why it helps Keep your hands off the approve button without handing over the keys.
examples- On Desktop, switch modes from the mode selector — start in "Ask permissions", step up to auto only once you trust the task.
- It's the honest middle between approving everything and skipping permissions entirely — safe stuff flows, risky stuff stops.
- Set hard deny rules for actions that should never run automatically, no matter what else is allowed.
- Pair it with [checkpoints](/features/checkpoints/) so even an auto-approved change has a clean way back.
Questions people ask
- What does auto mode actually do?
- Auto mode is a middle-ground permission setting: a classifier sorts each action as it comes up, letting safe, routine things (reads, tests, status checks) run on their own while pausing anything genuinely risky for your yes.
- Is auto mode the same as skipping permissions entirely?
- No. Skipping permissions waves *everything* through; auto mode is the honest middle — safe stuff flows, risky stuff still stops. You keep your guardrails without approving every harmless action.
- How do I stop auto mode from running something dangerous?
- Set a hard deny — a block that holds no matter what else is allowed. That's the right home for force-pushes, production deploys, or anything you'd never want running unattended.
- How do I turn auto mode on?
- In Claude Desktop, pick it from the mode selector (the same place you choose the "Ask permissions" mode). In the terminal, run `/auto`. Either way, it's worth pairing with checkpoints so even an auto-approved change has a clean way back.