Approvals

The current approval system is intentionally narrow and explicit.

What is implemented

Today, approvals are enforced for:

• write_file

That is the only tool family with a real approval gate in the current runtime.

Scope

Approval decisions are session-scoped.

This means:

• a saved approval applies only to the current session
• opening a new session starts from a clean approval state
• old approvals can be imported manually from another session

Storage

Rules are saved in:

.vcode/sessions/<session-id>/approvals.json

Manual commands

Supported commands:

• /approvals
• /approve write <path>
• /deny write <path>
• /update-preferences <session-id>

ACP approval flow

When a write is not already approved, the ACP adapter sends a permission request with:

• title
• tool kind
• file location
• raw input
• diff content

This lets ACP clients render a meaningful approval dialog instead of a blind allow/deny prompt.

Write diff behavior

For write approvals, vCode compares:

• the current file contents, if the file exists
• the proposed new contents

That diff is sent through ACP as structured diff content.

YOLO behavior

There is a yolo_default preference in preferences.json.

Current meaning:

• if enabled, write approval checks are bypassed

This is intentionally off by default.

Current limitation

Approvals are not yet wired into:

• terminal commands
• network access
• browser automation
• MCP tools