Asks and approvals

Atoi works on its own for routine, reversible things and stops when a missing decision or a missing permission would change the outcome. There is no setting that turns this off.

#Answer an ask

An ask is a question with options. It names the choice, shows the context, and says what each option changes. Pick one, or write your own answer. Your answer becomes part of the thread.

Common asks cover the audience for a piece of work, which design to pursue, or which source wins when two disagree.

#Approve an action

An approval shows one specific action before it runs: the object, the destination, the exact payload. Approve it or decline it; to change what runs, decline and say what you want instead. You can answer from the web, the terminal, a paired computer, or your phone. Anything Atoi rates high-risk or destructive waits for you on the web, and the card says so: Open Atoi to allow high-risk or destructive actions. "Let the agent work" is never an approval.

Common approvals cover sending a message or a post outside Atoi, changing settings or access, deleting something that matters, and anything that touches credentials or payments.

#Let Atoi keep a rule

For the benign majority, Atoi acts without asking and leaves a short note in the thread saying what it did and why that was allowed. When you answer Always allow to an approval, Atoi keeps that as a rule.

Open Settings → Rules to read the rules it has learned and revoke the ones you no longer want.

#What always asks

Some actions ask no matter what rules exist.

• Sending, posting, or submitting anything outside Atoi shows the final draft first.
• Deleting, changing permissions, or changing settings names the exact target.
• Passwords, payments, passkeys, and two-factor steps stay in your hands.
• Destructive or irreversible operations never inherit a blanket grant.

#Read the state literally

An unanswered ask means the work is waiting, not that it failed. A declined approval is an answer, and Atoi does not try another route. An approval card waits 24 hours. When it expires, Atoi posts one line in the thread saying so and does not ask again on its own. Ask for the work again when you are ready, and it starts from a fresh card.

The same ask can appear in the thread, in Inbox, on your phone, or in a channel. Answering it once resolves it everywhere.

After an allowed action, the thread shows what ran, why it was allowed, and what came back.

Read Tasks next for how long work reports.