The four permissions
Permissions belong to one agent in one project, under Permissions in Agent settings. Only workspace owners and admins can change them; everyone else sees the rows read-only. Instructions never override a permission.
| Permission | What it governs | Modes | Until someone sets it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build and test strategies | Spending credits on a backtest, and cancelling one it started | Deny, Ask, Always approve | Asks you first |
| Make main | Making a version of a workflow or strategy main | Deny, Ask, Always approve | Refused |
| Make trading decisions | The trades an Agent strategy places once it is deployed in Trade | Deny, Ask, Auto, Always approve | Refused |
| Supervise deployments | Pausing, resuming, stopping or changing the limits of a deployment | Deny, Ask, Auto, Always approve | Refused |
A row appears where its app is active in the project: Backtesting for Build and test strategies, Trade for Make trading decisions and Supervise deployments. Make main is always offered.
The modes
- Deny: never. The agent stops asking for the rest of the run.
- Ask: the agent leaves a card in its conversation, says what is waiting and ends its run. A held trade waits in Trade instead.
- Auto, on Make trading decisions and Supervise deployments only: it lets through what takes risk off and holds what adds it.
- Always approve: the agent acts on its own, within what the setting's sentence names; read it before you confirm.
Build and test strategies
Under Ask, the card reads Run a backtest of and the strategy's name, with its estimate. Under Always approve, the sentence reads Runs up to three backtests a run on its own, within its spend cap when one is set. See Running backtests.
Make main
Main is the version a person chose, so this is refused until a workspace owner or admin sets it. Under Ask, the card is titled Make v2 main, for the version the agent proposes. See Versions.
Make trading decisions
Once the agent's strategy is deployed, the stricter of this and the deployment's trading permission applies. See The agent's own permissions.
If the agent does not meet the rules for making trading decisions, the panel refuses with This agent cannot be given that setting yet. and lists what to fix.
Supervise deployments
The broker account's own setting, Ask, is the ceiling on this permission, and nothing in the app changes it. So under Ask, Auto and Always approve every act waits for you as a card, and Deny refuses them.
Change a permission
Open the agent's settings
In the Agents list, hover the agent, click ⋮ (Actions for its name) and choose Settings. Scroll to Permissions.
Choose a mode
Click the mode on the row. The dialog that opens shows the exact sentence the setting will mean.
Confirm
The button reads Deny, Ask each time, Set to Auto or Always approve.
To go back to unset, click Revoke beside a set row and confirm with Revoke. An agent whose setup card has not been applied cannot be given a permission: Finish setting this agent up before giving it this permission.
Give a permission from Chat
Only Build and test strategies can be proposed from Chat. For the other three, Chat says it cannot and points to Settings → Permissions.
Ask for it
The setup interview asks when the job builds or tests strategies: Should it build and test on its own, or check with you first? For an agent already set up, ask Chat in words.
Read the card
Chat proposes a card and never applies it, even when you say "apply". Under Permissions it lists the permission, its mode and the exact sentence.
Apply or discard
Click Apply to give it, or Discard. Anyone but a workspace owner or admin sees Only a workspace owner or admin can apply this card, because it changes what the agent may do on its own. In the setup interview, the answer that it should check with you first adds no permission, so you can apply that card yourself.
Answer a held action
An approval request waits as a card under the reply that asked, in the agent's conversation. The card reads Waiting for you and shows Answer by and a date.
In the Agents list, the agent moves to Needs you. When nobody was in the conversation, such as on a schedule, the agent's creator gets a notification titled Approval needed: and the card's title. See Notifications.
Read what approving does
The title and the line under it are the whole request. A backtest's line gives its estimated credits, or no credits charged today while backtests are not billed.
Approve or refuse
Refuse takes two clicks, turning to Refuse? first. A refusal is final.
Read the line it collapses to
An approval says what happened and who said yes, such as Ran the backtest and approved by a name and a time. View run, Open strategy or Open workflow appear where there is something to open. A refusal reads Refused by, a card nobody answered Expired, and one overtaken by events No longer applies.
A request lapses after seven days, and nothing is done.
Approving a request raised in your own conversation, or in a task's turn, starts a new run that carries on, at most two in a row. After that, and anywhere else, such as on a schedule or in a workflow, approving does the act and no run starts.
The permission is read again when you approve. If someone set it to Deny while the card waited, Approve is refused: the permission is now set to Deny for this agent, so this request cannot be approved. An approval refused for another reason, such as lack of credits, leaves the card open.
Project editors and above can approve or refuse a card. Anyone else's click is refused with Only project editors and above can answer this. Only a workspace owner or admin can approve a deployment change, because Trade carries it out. Project editors and above can still Refuse it.