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The approval mode decides when DinoAI stops to ask for your approval before it acts in Agent mode. The approval mode picker replaces the lock icon that these docs previously described as God Mode.

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Choose a mode

In the Code IDE, open the DinoAI chat panel. The approval mode picker sits in the prompt footer, next to the Ask / Agent dropdown, and shows the mode you’re on. Select it to switch modes:
The DinoAI approval mode picker open in the Code IDE chat panel, listing Manual, Auto, and Full auto with their descriptions, Full auto selected
In Manual, your terminal command allowlist and the per-tool permissions in DinoAI settings still apply: allowlisted commands and tools set to Always Accept run without asking.

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What Auto runs without a review

In Auto, these actions run straight away, with no review and no approval card:
  • Terminal commands that match your allowlist
  • Tools set to Always Accept, which by default includes reading and searching files
  • File edits inside your repository
File edits still go to review when they touch CI or Git configuration (such as .github/, .gitlab-ci.yml, or .git/), .dinoai/, .dinorules, dbt_project.yml, or profiles.yml, or when they point outside the repository.

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How the reviewer decides

Everything else goes to a reviewer model first. It judges each action against what you typed in the chat. It doesn’t see tool output or attached files, so it weighs the action against your request rather than against instructions found in a file or a web page.
  • If the reviewer approves, the action runs without a card.
  • If it objects, you get the approval card with the reviewer’s reason on it, and you decide.
  • If the review fails or times out, you get the approval card.
  • An action too large to review always asks you.
Each review uses credits.

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Full auto

In Full auto, every action runs without asking, terminal commands included, and you are responsible for what it runs. The per-tool permissions and terminal command allowlist in DinoAI settings don’t apply.
Use Full auto on a feature branch, and review the changes before you merge them.

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MCP tools

Tools from external MCP servers always ask in Manual, go to the reviewer in Auto, and run without asking in Full auto.

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Your saved mode

DinoAI saves your mode for each workspace. Until you choose one, it uses Manual. If you had turned auto-accept on with the old lock icon, you start on Auto. If you had turned it off, you start on Manual. A new mode applies from DinoAI’s next action. It never approves a card that’s already open: if you select Reject, the action is cancelled, even if you switched modes while the card was open.