Permission policies

Permission policies control whether server-executed tools (the pre-built agent toolset and MCP toolset) run automatically or wait for your approval. Custom tools are executed by your application and controlled by you, so they are not governed by permission policies.

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Permission policy types

Each toolset kind has its own default: the agent toolset defaults to always_allow, and MCP toolsets default to always_ask.

A permission policy controls when an enabled tool runs. To remove a tool from the agent entirely, disable it instead. See Disabling specific tools.

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Set a policy for a toolset

You set permission policies in the agent's tools configuration when you create the agent, and you can change them later by updating the agent. Running sessions keep the toolset configuration they were created with. Updates apply to sessions created afterward.

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Agent toolset permissions

When creating an agent, you can apply a policy to every tool in agent_toolset_20260401 using default_config.permission_policy:

ant beta:agents create <<'YAML'
name: Coding Assistant
model: claude-opus-4-8
tools:
  - type: agent_toolset_20260401
    default_config:
      permission_policy:
        type: always_ask
YAML

default_config is optional. If you omit it, the agent toolset is enabled with the default permission policy, always_allow.

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MCP toolset permissions

MCP toolsets default to always_ask. This ensures that new tools added to an MCP server do not execute in your application without approval. To auto-approve tools from a trusted MCP server, set default_config.permission_policy on the mcp_toolset entry.

The mcp_server_name must match the name of a server in the mcp_servers array.

This example connects a GitHub MCP server and allows its tools to run without confirmation:

ant beta:agents create <<'YAML'
name: Dev Assistant
model: claude-opus-4-8
mcp_servers:
  - type: url
    name: github
    url: https://mcp.example.com/github
tools:
  - type: agent_toolset_20260401
  - type: mcp_toolset
    mcp_server_name: github
    default_config:
      permission_policy:
        type: always_allow
YAML

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Override an individual tool policy

Use the configs array to override the default for individual tools. The name values for the agent toolset are listed in Available tools. This example allows the full agent toolset by default but requires confirmation before any bash command runs:

ant beta:agents create <<'YAML'
name: Coding Assistant
model: claude-opus-4-8
tools:
  - type: agent_toolset_20260401
    default_config:
      permission_policy:
        type: always_allow
    configs:
      - name: bash
        permission_policy:
          type: always_ask
YAML

Pass this tools configuration in the agent create request (the CLI tab shows the complete command). MCP toolsets support the same per-tool overrides, with name set to the tool name reported by the MCP server. See Configure which MCP tools are available.

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Respond to confirmation requests

When the agent invokes a tool with an always_ask policy:

1. The session emits an agent.tool_use or agent.mcp_tool_use event.
2. The session pauses with a session.status_idle event whose stop_reason.type is requires_action. The blocking event IDs are in the stop_reason.event_ids array. The session waits indefinitely for a response.
3. Send a user.tool_confirmation event for each blocking event, passing the event ID in the tool_use_id parameter. Set result to "allow" or "deny". Use deny_message to explain a denial. You can send several confirmations in a single events request.
4. Once all blocking events are resolved, the session transitions back to running. Allowed tools execute. Denied tools do not run, and the agent receives a tool result saying the call was rejected, including your deny_message.

In the following examples, the tool-use event IDs come from the stop_reason.event_ids array of the session.status_idle event. Learn more about receiving events in the Session event stream guide, or subscribe to webhooks to be notified when a session pauses for input.

# Allow the tool to execute
ant beta:sessions:events send \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --event "{type: user.tool_confirmation, tool_use_id: $AGENT_TOOL_USE_EVENT_ID, result: allow}"

# Or deny it with an explanation
ant beta:sessions:events send \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --event "{type: user.tool_confirmation, tool_use_id: $MCP_TOOL_USE_EVENT_ID, result: deny,
    deny_message: Don't create issues in the production project. Use the staging project.}"

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Custom tools

Permission policies do not apply to custom tools. When the agent invokes a custom tool, your application receives an agent.custom_tool_use event and is responsible for deciding whether to execute it before sending back a user.custom_tool_result. See Session event stream for the full flow.

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Next steps