Home / Cowork, the digital colleague
Choosing your approval level, step by step
On an account not yet moved to the new experience, the approval modes decide who controls a Cowork action before it runs: you (Manual), Claude itself (Automatic), nobody (No approval). Switch to Manual for sensitive files, accounts or sites, a tool used for the first time, or a mistake that would be hard to undo.
On an account that has not yet moved to the new unified experience, Cowork offers three approval modes, which Anthropic's help page calls Manually approve, Automatically approve and Skip all approvals, and which this lesson calls Manual, Automatic and No approval. The mode you choose decides what happens between the moment Claude proposes an action and the moment it runs.
What each mode controls
In Manual mode, each proposed action waits for your approval or refusal, one by one. In Automatic mode, Claude reviews each action before running it and blocks the one it judges dangerous: it then looks for a safer route or asks you directly. The check still exists, but Claude does it, without consulting you at every step. In No approval mode, nothing checks actions before they run.
The last two modes share a risk that the help page names: if Claude reads booby-trapped content during a task, a page or a document written to hijack its instructions, it may act on it before you notice.
What does not change, whatever the mode
Two safeguards run through all three modes. The first: before any permanent file deletion, Cowork shows a permission prompt, and the deletion only happens after a click on Allow, even in No approval mode. The second is a gesture that belongs to you: you can stop a task in progress, and the help page asks you to do so as soon as something looks wrong to you, for example Claude opening files or sites you have not mentioned.
Choosing according to the sensitivity of the task
The help page recommends switching to Manual mode in three cases: the task touches sensitive files, accounts or sites, you are using a tool, a plugin or a site for the first time, or a mistake would be hard to undo, such as sending a message or making a purchase. Rereading the brief before launching the task, as in writing a brief that Cowork can carry out, reduces the risk even before you choose the mode.
A mode that may be missing on a company account
On a Team or Enterprise account, an organisation permissions setting allows or disallows Automatic mode. It is on by default. When an administrator switches it off, Automatic mode no longer appears in members' selector. If it is missing for you, ask the administrator whether they switched this setting off before looking elsewhere.
On an account that has moved, two settings for the whole conversation
Anthropic's release notes date the gradual rollout of the new experience, which brings chat and Cowork together in one conversation, to 16 September 2026, as described in the lesson on the merger. On an account that has moved, the input area carries a permission setting with two positions. Auto lets Claude move ahead without stopping at every step, with automatic safety checks before each action. With Manual, the default setting, Claude asks for your approval before each action. This setting applies to the whole conversation, it can be changed at any time, and you can stop or redirect Claude while it works. Permanent deletion remains subject to your approval by default.
Three modes, three checks before the action
| Mode | Help page label | Who checks the action | Permanent deletion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual | Manually approve | You, action by action. | Permission prompt, click on Allow. |
| Automatic | Automatically approve | Claude, which blocks the action it judges dangerous. | Permission prompt, click on Allow. |
| No approval | Skip all approvals | Nobody before it runs. | Permission prompt, click on Allow. |
On an account that has moved, one setting in the input area
| Position | What Claude does | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Auto | Moves ahead without stopping at every step, with automatic safety checks before each action. | The whole conversation, changeable at any time. |
| Manual, default | Asks before each action, and you allow it or not. | The whole conversation, changeable at any time. |
A volunteer launches a Cowork task in Automatic mode on a folder of supplier invoices. Cowork proposes renaming twelve files to a new format and moving them into an archive subfolder. The volunteer closes her laptop while the task is still running.
Write in one sentence what this situation establishes, and in one sentence what it does not establish.
What this establishes: It establishes that the task was running in Automatic mode, that Cowork proposed renaming and moving twelve invoices, and that the computer was closed during the task.
What this does not establish: It does not establish what Claude did with the twelve files, nor whether the task carried on after the computer was closed, nor what came of the check this mode provides before each action.
The three most common miscalibrations
- Too broad It establishes that the twelve invoices were renamed and filed, since this mode lets Claude act without waiting for the volunteer.
- Too narrow It establishes that Cowork proposed an action on files, without making it possible to know which mode the task was running in.
- Beside the point It establishes that supplier invoices are files too sensitive for the mode the volunteer chose.
- In Manual mode, each action waits for your approval before it runs.
- Automatic mode keeps a check, Claude's own, which blocks what it judges dangerous, whereas No approval mode keeps none.
- A permanent deletion waits for your click on Allow in all three modes, and stopping a task that goes off the rails remains your gesture.
- On Team and Enterprise, Automatic mode is open by default and disappears from the selector when an administrator switches off the matching setting.
- On an account that has moved, the Auto or Manual setting applies to the whole conversation, and Manual is the starting position.
Open a Cowork task on a low-sensitivity folder, choose Manual mode, or the Manual position on an account that has moved, and allow or refuse yourself the first action Cowork proposes before letting it continue.
Every datable claim in this lesson links here to the public text behind it. A source that does not open proves nothing.
- Anthropic, use Claude Cowork safely, approval modes and deletion confirmation consultée le 2026-09-28
- Anthropic, use Claude Cowork on Team and Enterprise plans, organisation setting for Automatic mode consultée le 2026-09-28
- Anthropic Help Center, Claude Cowork and chat are one Claude, Auto and Manual permission setting consultée le 2026-09-28
- Anthropic Help Center, release notes, 16 September 2026 consultée le 2026-09-28