# Approvals and autonomy

**What you'll do:** learn what asks for your approval by default, how to approve or redirect it, and how to give a goal more freedom when it earns it.

Every goal has an autonomy level: a slider with four stops. Each stop lets the crew do one more kind of thing on its own; everything else it prepares and asks about. Your rules from goal setup apply at every stop — autonomy never overrides them.

![The autonomy slider with four levels from Ask first to Full](/assets/docs/guides/autonomy-levels.webp)

## The four levels

| Level | The crew on its own… | Still asks before… |
|---|---|---|
| **Ask first** | Prepares work. | Running anything. |
| **Run steps** (default) | Runs your workflow steps. | New posts, sends, or workflow edits. |
| **Edit workflow** | Also edits steps and schedules. | New posts or messages. |
| **Full** | Also posts, sends, and reaches out. | Nothing — but always within your rules. |

New goals start at **Run steps**: the crew does the work, and asks before anything outward-facing (a send, a post, a message) or structural (changing the plan itself).

## Steps

1. **Find the slider.** Open the workflow, then its activity view (the heartbeat icon in the toolbar). The **autonomy** slider shows the current stop, with a one-line summary of what it means.
2. **Approve or redirect.** Approvals arrive where the job lives — the Slack thread, WhatsApp chat, or app inbox — with the context attached. Reply `approve` to continue, or describe what to do differently ("offer 10%, not 15%") and the crew adjusts.
3. **Move up one stop at a time.** When a goal runs a week without surprises, move it from Run steps to Edit workflow, and later to Full. There is no prize for Full — many goals live happily at Run steps forever.
4. **Move back down instantly.** If anything feels off, drop the goal back to Ask first. In-flight work pauses at its next decision point and waits for you.

![A decision card in the app: approve, request changes, or reject, with dismiss and ask-in-chat options](/assets/docs/guides/approval-decision.webp)

## What happens next

Approvals get rarer as trust compounds. Auto-improve folds your repeated corrections into reusable knowledge — "always offer the annual plan first" stops being an approval and starts being how the crew works. Your job shrinks to the genuinely new decisions.

## FAQs

**What happens if I ignore an approval?**
The job waits. Nothing it was unsure about runs without your answer, and the approval stays open in Slack, WhatsApp, or the app until you reply.

**Can different goals have different levels?**
Yes — autonomy is per goal. Your invoice chaser can run at Full while a new experiment stays at Ask first.

**Does Full mean the crew can break my rules?**
No. Rules you set on the goal ("key accounts always need approval") hold at every level, including Full. Full removes the default outward-facing checks, not your explicit rules.

**Who approved what?**
Every approval and rejection is recorded on the run — what was asked, what you decided, and when. Open any run to see its decision trail.

*Need help? [Book a call](https://calendly.com/manish-tryagentworks/intro) and we'll set sensible levels for each goal with you.*