Permission modes

A permission mode decides which actions Claude can take without asking you first. Press Shift+Tab during a session to cycle through them; the status bar shows the current one. The main modes:

• Manual (config value default): Claude asks before editing files and before most shell commands. Reads are free. Best when you want to review everything, for example in unfamiliar or sensitive code.
• Accept edits (acceptEdits): file edits and simple file commands such as mkdir or mv in your project run without asking; other commands still ask. Good when you are watching the diffs anyway.
• Plan (plan): Claude researches and proposes a plan but does not edit your source files until you approve it. A later lesson covers it.
• Auto (auto): a second model, a classifier, reviews actions in the background and blocks risky ones instead of asking you. In recent versions this is the default starting mode for terminal and VS Code sessions.

Two more exist for special cases: dontAsk denies anything that would need approval (useful in scripts), and bypassPermissions skips checks entirely; it is only for throwaway containers or virtual machines.

You can also start in a mode: claude --permission-mode plan. Your settings or your company can set a different starting mode, which is why two people may see different defaults.

When Claude asks, you usually get "yes once", "yes and don't ask again" for that command or domain, and "no". The "don't ask again" choice is saved as a rule (covered later), so use it for safe, repeatable commands like running tests, not for anything that deletes or deploys.

Whatever the mode, rules you set to deny something still block it.