What "autonomy" means
Autonomy is how much freedom an agent has to act on its own versus checking with you first. This article explains the difference and how to choose what's right for a task.
The two modes
At a high level, an agent can work in one of two ways:
- Auto — the agent does the work and only pauses for things that genuinely need you.
- Ask — the agent checks with you before taking meaningful actions, giving you more oversight.
Think of it as the difference between a colleague you trust to run with something, and one you'd rather have run things by you first.
When auto is a good fit
Auto works well when:
- The task is low-risk, like research, drafting, or summarizing.
- You'd rather get a finished result than be involved in every step.
- You're comfortable reviewing the outcome at the end.
In auto mode, the agent will still pause if it hits something it genuinely can't decide on its own.
When ask is a good fit
Ask is a better choice when:
- The task involves sending messages, making changes, or anything you'd want to review first.
- You want to stay closely involved as the work progresses.
- The stakes are higher and you'd rather approve key actions.
In ask mode, you'll be prompted more often, which means more control but a bit more back-and-forth.
Some actions always ask
Regardless of the mode, certain actions will always pause for your approval — especially anything that affects the outside world, like sending an email or making a change in a connected tool. This protects you from surprises.
Changing the level
You can choose how much autonomy a task has. If a task is asking too often for your taste, you can give it more freedom; if it's doing too much on its own, you can ask it to check with you more.