> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cortex-foundation-add13747-droid-1a2462c9-cor-444-sanitize.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Approvals

> Allow / Deny / Always. A bot parks consequential steps — connected-app changes and dangerous computer actions — and nothing runs until you choose.

A bot can act, so it asks first. When it reaches a step that changes something in a connected app or could damage its computer, it **parks** the action and shows an approval widget in the conversation. The widget names the tool and what it is about to do.

## The three choices

| Choice     | What happens                                                                         |
| ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Allow**  | Runs the parked action, this once                                                    |
| **Deny**   | Does not run it. The bot continues without that step and can propose something else. |
| **Always** | Runs it, and remembers the choice for the next time this same kind of step appears   |

**Always** is scoped to that kind of step — not a blanket for every tool the bot has. Confirming **runs** the parked action; it is not a preview.

## What parks

| Category                 | Examples                                                                             |
| ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Connected-app changes    | Creating or editing records, sending messages, anything that writes through a plugin |
| Dangerous computer steps | Deleting files, installing software, commands with broad effect                      |

Reading, browsing, and taking screenshots do not park; they are how the bot works.

## Read before you choose

<Steps>
  <Step title="Read the tool name and the description">
    The widget says which tool wants to run and what it will do.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Look at the Computer rail if it helps">
    The live desktop shows the state the bot is in. See [Computer](/bot/computer).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose">
    Allow, Deny, or Always. The bot waits; a parked step never times out into a silent yes.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Approvals elsewhere

| Surface  | Control                                                                                                                                           |
| -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Code** | Modes — Ask and Plan withhold mutating tools entirely. See [Ask, Plan, Agent](/code/interactions)                                                 |
| **CLI**  | Numbered prompts before consequential commands, plus `/permissions` and a sandbox policy. See [Modes and permissions](/cli/modes-and-permissions) |

## Related

* [Tools](/bot/tools) — what can be parked.
* [How Bot works](/bot/how-it-works) — approvals as user-visible rows.