Understand Auto Model and Auto Approval
AI Cockpit Reasoning uses the word auto for two independent choices: automatic model routing and automatic approval. Selecting one does not enable the other.
Auto model routing
Models listed under Auto Models in the model selector let the AI Cockpit gateway choose the model that handles each request. They appear only when the active organization offers them.
Auto model routing changes which model answers. It does not approve tools or skip permission prompts.
Auto approval
Auto approval decides whether tools run without asking you first.
- Persistent rules: open Settings → Auto-Approve to set each tool to Allow, Ask, or Deny. Most tools default to Allow;
doom_loopandexternal_directorydefault to Ask. - Session toggle: select Enable auto-approve below the prompt, or press Ctrl+Alt+A (Cmd+Alt+A on macOS). While the toggle is on, permission prompts are approved automatically.
- CLI:
aic run --autoapproves every permission that is not explicitly denied.
The toggle answers only the prompts that would otherwise ask you. Deny rules still block their tools, and requests to leave the sandbox still ask. Turn the toggle off before you leave a session unattended or move to a task with broader risk.
Auto approval does not select a model. Use the model selector in Chat and Agent Manager, or --model in the CLI.
Use each setting deliberately
| Goal | Setting |
|---|---|
| Let the organization route requests across eligible models | Select a model under Auto Models. |
| Reduce repeated permission prompts in the extension | Adjust narrow rules in Settings → Auto-Approve. |
| Approve everything for one session | Use the Enable auto-approve toggle, and turn it off when you finish. |
| Run a headless CLI task without prompts | Use --auto. |
See Connecting Providers, Permissions and Sandbox, and Headless Usage.