Home › Sources › Choose a permission mode

Choose a permission mode

Tags

official-docs claude-code-cli

Content

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://code.claude.com/docs/llms.txt Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Choose a permission mode

Control whether Claude asks before editing files or running commands. Cycle modes with Shift+Tab in the CLI or use the mode selector in VS Code, Desktop, and claude.ai.

When Claude wants to edit a file, run a shell command, or make a network request, it pauses and asks you to approve the action. Permission modes control how often that pause happens. The mode you pick shapes the flow of a session: default mode has you review each action as it comes, while looser modes let Claude work in longer uninterrupted stretches and report back when done. Pick more oversight for sensitive work, or fewer interruptions when you trust the direction.

Available modes

Each mode makes a different tradeoff between convenience and oversight. The table below shows what Claude can do without a permission prompt in each mode.

Mode What runs without asking Best for
default Reads only Getting started, sensitive work
acceptEdits Reads, file edits, and common filesystem commands (mkdir, touch, mv, cp, etc.) Iterating on code you're reviewing
plan Reads only Exploring a codebase before changing it
auto Everything, with background safety checks Long tasks, reducing prompt fatigue
dontAsk Only pre-approved tools Locked-down CI and scripts
bypassPermissions Everything except protected paths Isolated containers and VMs only

Regardless of mode, writes to protected paths are never auto-approved, guarding repository state and Claude's own configuration against accidental corruption.

Modes set the baseline. Layer permission rules on top to pre-approve or block specific tools in any mode except bypassPermissions, which skips the permission layer entirely.

Switch permission modes

You can switch modes mid-session, at startup, or as a persistent default. The mode is set through these controls, not by asking Claude in chat. Select your interface below to see how to change it.

During a session: press Shift+Tab to cycle default → acceptEdits → plan. The current mode appears in the status bar. Not every mode is in the default cycle:

* `auto`: appears when your account meets the [auto mode requirements](#eliminate-prompts-with-auto-mode)
* `bypassPermissions`: appears after you start with `--permission-mode bypassPermissions`, `--dangerously-skip-permissions`, or `--allow-dangerously-skip-permissions`; the `--allow-` variant adds the mode to the cycle without activating it
* `dontAsk`: never appears in the cycle; set it with `--permission-mode dontAsk`

Enabled optional modes slot in after `plan`, with `bypassPermissions` first and `auto` last. If you have both enabled, you will cycle through `bypassPermissions` on the way to `auto`.

**At startup**: pass the mode as a flag.

```bash theme={null}
claude --permission-mode plan
```

**As a default**: set `defaultMode` in [settings](https://code.claude.com/en/settings#settings-files).

```json theme={null}
{
  "permissions": {
    "defaultMode": "acceptEdits"
  }
}
```

The same `--permission-mode` flag works with `-p` for [non-interactive runs](https://code.claude.com/en/headless).

During a session: click the mode indicator at the bottom of the prompt box.

**As a default**: set `claudeCode.initialPermissionMode` in VS Code settings, or use the Claude Code extension settings panel.

The mode indicator shows these labels, mapped to the mode each one applies:

| UI label           | Mode                |
| :----------------- | :------------------ |
| Ask before edits   | `default`           |
| Edit automatically | `acceptEdits`       |
| Plan mode          | `plan`              |
| Auto mode          | `auto`              |
| Bypass permissions | `bypassPermissions` |

Auto mode appears in the mode indicator after you enable **Allow dangerously skip permissions** in the extension settings, but it stays unavailable until your account meets every requirement listed in the [auto mode section](#eliminate-prompts-with-auto-mode). The `claudeCode.initialPermissionMode` setting does not accept `auto`; to start in auto mode by default, set `defaultMode` in your Claude Code [`settings.json`](https://code.claude.com/en/settings#settings-files) instead.

Bypass permissions also requires the **Allow dangerously skip permissions** toggle before it appears in the mode indicator.

See the [VS Code guide](https://code.claude.com/en/vs-code) for extension-specific details.

The JetBrains plugin runs Claude Code in the IDE terminal, so switching modes works the same as in the CLI: press Shift+Tab to cycle, or pass --permission-mode when launching.

Use the mode selector next to the send button. Auto and Bypass permissions appear only after you enable them in Desktop settings. See the Desktop guide.

Use the mode dropdown next to the prompt box on claude.ai/code or in the mobile app. Permission prompts appear in claude.ai for approval. Which modes appear depends on where the session runs:

* **Cloud sessions** on [Claude Code on the web](https://code.claude.com/en/claude-code-on-the-web): Auto accept edits and Plan mode. Ask permissions, Auto, and Bypass permissions are not available.
* **[Remote Control](https://code.claude.com/en/remote-control) sessions** on your local machine: Ask permissions, Auto accept edits, and Plan mode. Auto and Bypass permissions are not available.

For Remote Control, you can also set the starting mode when launching the host:

```bash theme={null}
claude remote-control --permission-mode acceptEdits
```

Auto-approve file edits with acceptEdits mode

acceptEdits mode lets Claude create and edit files in your working directory without prompting. The status bar shows ⏵⏵ accept edits on while this mode is active.

In addition to file edits, acceptEdits mode auto-approves common filesystem Bash commands: mkdir, touch, rm, rmdir, mv, cp, and sed. These commands are also auto-approved when prefixed with safe environment variables such as LANG=C or NO_COLOR=1, or process wrappers such as timeout, nice, or nohup. Like file edits, auto-approval applies only to paths inside your working directory or additionalDirectories. Paths outside that scope, writes to protected paths, and all other Bash commands still prompt.

Use acceptEdits when you want to review changes in your editor or via git diff after the fact rather than approving each edit inline. Press Shift+Tab once from default mode to enter it, or start with it directly:

```bash theme={null} claude --permission-mode acceptEdits


## Analyze before you edit with plan mode

Plan mode tells Claude to research and propose changes without making them. Claude reads files, runs shell commands to explore, and writes a plan, but does not edit your source. Permission prompts still apply the same as default mode.

Enter plan mode by pressing `Shift+Tab` or prefixing a single prompt with `/plan`. You can also start in plan mode from the CLI:

```bash theme={null}
claude --permission-mode plan

Press Shift+Tab again to leave plan mode without approving a plan.

When the plan is ready, Claude presents it and asks how to proceed. From that prompt you can:

Each approve option also offers to clear the planning context first.

Eliminate prompts with auto mode

Auto mode requires Claude Code v2.1.83 or later.

Auto mode lets Claude execute without permission prompts. A separate classifier model reviews actions before they run, blocking anything that escalates beyond your request, targets unrecognized infrastructure, or appears driven by hostile content Claude read.

Auto mode is a research preview. It reduces prompts but does not guarantee safety. Use it for tasks where you trust the general direction, not as a replacement for review on sensitive operations.

Auto mode is available only when your account meets all of these requirements:

If Claude Code reports auto mode as unavailable, one of these requirements is unmet; this is not a transient outage. A separate message that names a model and says auto mode "cannot determine the safety" of an action is a transient classifier outage; see the error reference.

What the classifier blocks by default

The classifier trusts your working directory and your repo's configured remotes. Everything else is treated as external until you configure trusted infrastructure.

Blocked by default:

Allowed by default:

Sandbox network access requests are routed through the classifier rather than allowed by default. Run claude auto-mode defaults to see the full rule lists. If routine actions get blocked, an administrator can add trusted repos, buckets, and services via the autoMode.environment setting: see Configure the auto mode classifier.

Boundaries you state in conversation

The classifier treats boundaries you state in the conversation as a block signal. If you tell Claude "don't push" or "wait until I review before deploying", the classifier blocks matching actions even when the default rules would allow them. A boundary stays in force until you lift it in a later message. Claude's own judgment that a condition was met does not lift it.

Boundaries are not stored as rules. The classifier re-reads them from the transcript on each check, so a boundary can be lost if context compaction removes the message that stated it. For a hard guarantee, add a deny rule instead.

When auto mode falls back

Each denied action shows a notification and appears in /permissions under the Recently denied tab, where you can press r to retry it with a manual approval.

If the classifier blocks an action 3 times in a row or 20 times total, auto mode pauses and Claude Code resumes prompting. Approving the prompted action resumes auto mode. These thresholds are not configurable. Any allowed action resets the consecutive counter, while the total counter persists for the session and resets only when its own limit triggers a fallback.

In non-interactive mode with the -p flag, repeated blocks abort the session since there is no user to prompt.

Repeated blocks usually mean the classifier is missing context about your infrastructure. Use /feedback to report false positives, or have an administrator configure trusted infrastructure.

Each action goes through a fixed decision order. The first matching step wins:

1. Actions matching your [allow or deny rules](https://code.claude.com/en/permissions#manage-permissions) resolve immediately
2. Read-only actions and file edits in your working directory are auto-approved, except writes to [protected paths](#protected-paths)
3. Everything else goes to the classifier
4. If the classifier blocks, Claude receives the reason and tries an alternative

On entering auto mode, broad allow rules that grant arbitrary code execution are dropped:

* Blanket `Bash(*)`
* Wildcarded interpreters like `Bash(python*)`
* Package-manager run commands
* `Agent` allow rules

Narrow rules like `Bash(npm test)` carry over. Dropped rules are restored when you leave auto mode.

The classifier sees user messages, tool calls, and your CLAUDE.md content. Tool results are stripped, so hostile content in a file or web page cannot manipulate it directly. A separate server-side probe scans incoming tool results and flags suspicious content before Claude reads it. For more on how these layers work together, see the [auto mode announcement](https://claude.com/blog/auto-mode) and the [engineering deep dive](https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/claude-code-auto-mode).

The classifier checks subagent work at three points:

1. Before a subagent starts, the delegated task description is evaluated, so a dangerous-looking task is blocked at spawn time.
2. While the subagent runs, each of its actions goes through the classifier with the same rules as the parent session, and any `permissionMode` in the subagent's frontmatter is ignored.
3. When the subagent finishes, the classifier reviews its full action history; if that return check flags a concern, a security warning is prepended to the subagent's results.

The classifier runs on a server-configured model that is independent of your /model selection, so switching models does not change classifier availability. Classifier calls count toward your token usage. Each check sends a portion of the transcript plus the pending action, adding a round-trip before execution. Reads and working-directory edits outside protected paths skip the classifier, so the overhead comes mainly from shell commands and network operations.

Allow only pre-approved tools with dontAsk mode

dontAsk mode auto-denies every tool call that would otherwise prompt. Only actions matching your permissions.allow rules and read-only Bash commands can execute; explicit ask rules are denied rather than prompting. This makes the mode fully non-interactive for CI pipelines or restricted environments where you pre-define exactly what Claude may do.

Set it at startup with the flag:

```bash theme={null} claude --permission-mode dontAsk


## Skip all checks with bypassPermissions mode

`bypassPermissions` mode disables permission prompts and safety checks so tool calls execute immediately. Writes to [protected paths](#protected-paths) are the only actions that still prompt. Only use this mode in isolated environments like containers, VMs, or devcontainers without internet access, where Claude Code cannot damage your host system.

You cannot enter `bypassPermissions` from a session that was started without one of the enabling flags; restart with one to enable it:

```bash theme={null}
claude --permission-mode bypassPermissions

The --dangerously-skip-permissions flag is equivalent.

bypassPermissions offers no protection against prompt injection or unintended actions. For background safety checks without prompts, use auto mode instead. Administrators can block this mode by setting permissions.disableBypassPermissionsMode to "disable" in managed settings.

Protected paths

Writes to a small set of paths are never auto-approved, in every mode. This prevents accidental corruption of repository state and Claude's own configuration. In default, acceptEdits, plan, and bypassPermissions these writes prompt; in auto they route to the classifier; in dontAsk they are denied.

Protected directories:

Protected files:

See also