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Permission modes

A permission mode controls how Mercury handles tool execution within a session. Workspace trust is a separate decision about whether configuration from the opened folder may cause execution, and a bypass mode does not change it.

Permission controls

  • /permissions: Controls which operations run without asking and which ask first.
  • /policy: Opens the session's governance posture.
  • Shift+Tab: Cycles the permission modes in the carousel order. A step whose mode is unavailable falls through to the next.
  • Workspace trust: Interactive boot evaluates trust after onboarding and shows the trust dialog whenever the working directory lacks a covering grant. Permission mode does not change this.

The carousel order is default, implement, strategy, apollo, flow, sovereign, autopilot, then default again.

Modes

  • default: Always available, and entry is never refused. The ask-first answer at the close of an Apollo Mode interview selects it, and each edit then asks for confirmation.
  • implement: Always available, and entry is never refused. Apollo Mode's build posture uses it when flow is unavailable.
  • strategy: A think-first station. The carousel places it directly before apollo.
  • apollo: Always available, and interactive-only: a headless or SDK session cannot enter it. The agent interviews the user, writes the specification and presents it for review before a prototype build. Externally the mode projects as default and is never a bypass posture.
  • flow: The build posture. Permission questions are adjudicated by a classifier, entry depends on the live flow gate, and entering it arms the classifier and strips dangerous rules.
  • sovereign: The one bypass mode, available when bypass is available on the context. It is armed by the Boot Menu's Sovereign mode row as standing consent, by the CLI flag or by the session's own choice, and the boot's permission-posture record states which. mercury doctor and /health show it as the Sovereign mode row.
  • autopilot: Sits in the carousel only while it is armed.

/permissions shapes what runs free and what asks first. /policy sets the governance posture.

Enter Apollo Mode

To enter Apollo Mode, follow these steps:

  1. In an interactive session, press Shift+Tab until Apollo Mode is selected.

The Apollo Mode instructions join the system prompt at the next turn's prompt build, and the main agent alone conducts the interview.

Approve an Apollo Mode prototype build

To approve an Apollo Mode prototype build, follow these steps:

  1. Review the specification summary in the ApolloReview card.
  2. Select the build answer that matches the required edit permissions.

Mercury leaves Apollo Mode for the chosen build posture and the agent builds the prototype from the specification in one autonomous run.

The review answers have these effects:

  • Begin the build: Selects flow when the classifier gate allows it, otherwise implement. Edit consent follows the mode.
  • Ask before each edit: Selects default. The build runs and each edit asks for confirmation.
  • Ask more questions: Keeps the session and its drafts in Apollo Mode, and the agent resumes the interview.

A review with blockers is informational and changes nothing. The agent resolves the blockers with the user and reviews again. Esc holds the review as a rejection, and the agent waits for the user's word. Project settings cannot suppress the Sovereign-mode consent dialog through skipSovereignConsentPrompt. That setting is honored from the user, local, flag and managed policy sources only.

Workspace trust and permissions, Apollo mode, Using Mercury, Hooks