Permission modes
How much 8gent may do before it stops and asks. Four modes, per tab, on Shift+Tab.
Update to get this
Permission modes need a current release. Run 8gent update; see Install.
Each tab has its own mode. Shift+Tab steps the focused tab through them and wraps round:
Plan → Ask → Guarded → Infinite → Plan
| Mode | What it does | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| Plan | Reads and plans, changes nothing. File writes, edits, new agents and any shell command that is not plainly read-only are refused with a reason. It can still read, search and propose. | perm Plan in the footer. Tab tag · Plan (P on narrow terminals) |
| Ask | The default. Commands that are not already allowed show an approval card and wait for you. | Nothing extra: Ask is the default, so there is no perm segment |
| Guarded | Safe steps run, risky ones still ask. System One judges every shell command first: safe ones run without a card, dangerous ones get the card, blocked ones do not run. | perm Guarded. The card reads ASK risky step <command> |
| Infinite | Runs everything without asking, except the always-blocked list (for example rm -rf /). Goes back to Ask after 30 minutes. | perm Infinite in bold, an INFINITE chip in the header, tab tag ∞ (I on plain ASCII terminals) |
Each switch writes one line in the chat, so a screen reader hears it too:
Permissions: Guarded: safe steps run, risky ones still ask (⇧Tab to change)Starting in a mode
- Every tab starts in Ask.
8gent --infinite(or-i) starts every tab in Infinite./infinite [task]switches to Infinite from inside the workspace.
Guarded never gets less safe than Ask
Guarded relies on System One's judge model. If the model is not installed or cannot answer in time, Guarded asks you on the normal card instead, and says so once in the chat. It never lets a command through unasked. Commands the built-in safety rules block stay blocked. With nobody to ask (a headless run), the command is refused.
Agents that start agents
A child agent takes the stricter of its parent's mode and the one it asked for, and stays linked: narrow the parent and running children narrow too. You see · Plan, held on the tab and perm Plan (held by parent) in the footer. In Plan, no child agents start. Child agents that would run with their own permission checks off can only be started from Infinite.
What Shift+Tab used to do
Shift+Tab used to move to the previous tab. Use Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+9 for that now. Ctrl+Y still cycles the task mode label, which is separate from permissions.
Next: System One, then Allow and deny rules.