Configure coding agents
Choose a command trust mode
Choose how the local listener asks for approval before it runs a queued coding-agent command.
Trust controls when the local listener asks before it starts a backend-provided command. It is not a sandbox, permission boundary, or review of what the coding-agent program will do. Every approved command still runs with your local user permissions.
Run alterac-ai config trust from an initialized repository to review or change its project-local setting. New and older repository configurations use approve-changed by default.
| Mode | Listener behavior |
|---|---|
approve-changed | Ask on first use and whenever the selector-resolved command snapshot changes. This is the recommended default. |
always-allow | Start backend-provided command templates without a local approval prompt. |
approve-every-run | Ask before every queued command run. |
For either approval mode, inspect the incoming queued command and defer it when it is unexpected. Deferring does not launch the agent, does not change the prior approval baseline, and leaves the task Queued for a later poll.
For approve-changed, the listener compares the exact selector-resolved command template before it inserts a work-run ID. It records a SHA-256 digest and the most recently approved template for that agent name in ignored local approval state. A new work-run ID alone does not trigger another prompt; a changed command or a different resolved selector variant does.
On first use, and when only a legacy digest is available, there is no previous command text to compare. The prompt makes that clear. Approving saves the incoming snapshot as the next comparison baseline.
When the listener needs your decision, it marks the run as awaiting local approval and continues polling while the prompt is open. The task remains Queued, so a Queued state does not necessarily mean the listener is stopped. Approve to start it or defer to leave it queued. Use Run the local task listener for the launch and recovery flow.