Approvals & Run Budgets

term2 balances velocity with security by giving you fine-grained control over which operations execute automatically and which require interactive human approval.

Auto-Approval Modes (/auto-approve)

Configure the auto-approval policy using the /auto-approve command or via shell.autoApproveMode:

Mode	Command	Behavior	Safety Guarantee
off (Default)	/auto-approve off	Every mutating tool call and shell command prompts for interactive user confirmation.	Maximum safety. Default policy across all sessions.
advisory	/auto-approve advisory	Prompts for confirmation on every command, accompanied by a real-time safety explanation.	High safety with consequence analysis.
auto	/auto-approve auto	Opt-in smart approval mode. Automatically approves safe read-only operations and workspace file modifications. Risky commands (e.g. rm -rf, git reset --hard, network requests, system path edits) are strictly gated for confirmation.	Balanced velocity. Eliminates repetitive prompts on benign actions while intercepting destructive commands.
always	/auto-approve always	Completely unattended execution mode. Every tool runs without prompts except ask_user. Selecting always automatically disables the shell sandbox (sandbox.enabled = false).	For isolated, disposable environments only.

Sandbox Interaction: always and sandbox.enabled are mutually exclusive: selecting always disables the shell sandbox, and enabling the sandbox (/sandbox or sandbox.enabled = true) immediately demotes always to auto.

Run Budgets (agent.runBudget)

To prevent runaway token usage, infinite execution loops, or unintended API spending during autonomous runs, term2 enforces configurable run budgets:

• Spending Cap (agent.runBudget.maxUsdMicros): Total priced API cost ceiling for a run (default: $5.00 / 5,000,000 micros).
• Token Cap (agent.runBudget.maxUnpricedTokens): Unpriced token ceiling (default: 5,000,000 tokens).
• Active Time Cap (agent.runBudget.maxActiveTimeMs): Active execution time ceiling, excluding user idle wait time (default: 1 hour / 3,600,000 ms).
• Turn Backstop (agent.runBudget.turnBackstop): High turn-count safeguard to detect looping subagents (default: 150 turns).
• Budget Escalation: As budgets approach thresholds, term2 injects soft wrap-up nudges or pauses for user confirmation before granting finite extensions.