Auto Approve & YOLO mode

Control which actions Cline can take without asking for your approval.

Auto Approve lets you decide which actions Cline can take without prompting you each time. It keeps you out of approval dialogs during routine work while letting you stay in control of higher-risk operations.

If you find yourself repeatedly clicking approve for the same safe operations, Auto Approve is the fix.

How it works

Auto Approve is evaluated per tool call. When Cline is about to read a file, edit a file, run a command, or use the browser, it checks your Auto Approve settings for that category before proceeding.

A few details to keep in mind:

• Workspace vs. outside workspace: “Read all files” and “Edit all files” only extend the base toggle. If the base toggle is off, the “all files” extension does nothing.
• Terminal commands: Cline marks each command as either safe or requiring approval based on the command and its arguments. “Execute safe commands” covers safe-marked commands. “Execute all commands” extends this to commands that would otherwise require approval.
• Notifications: When enabled, Cline sends OS-level notifications when approval is required and when an auto-approved terminal command has been running for more than 30 seconds.

Permissions

Setting	What it allows
Read project files	Read files, list files, and search within your workspace
Read all files	Read files outside your workspace (requires base toggle)
Edit project files	Create and edit files inside your workspace
Edit all files	Edit files outside your workspace (requires base toggle)
Execute safe commands	Run terminal commands marked as safe
Execute all commands	Run commands that would otherwise require approval (requires base toggle)
Use the browser	Browser tool for fetching pages, web search, and browser automation
Use MCP servers	MCP tools and resources
Enable notifications	Notifies you about required approvals and long-running commands

“Read all files” and “Edit all files” grant access outside your workspace. Only enable them if you understand which files Cline may read or modify outside your project directory.

Safe vs. approval-required commands

Cline does not use a fixed allowlist. The model marks each command with a requires_approval flag based on the command and its arguments. The examples below are illustrative, not exhaustive guarantees.

Commonly treated as safe:

• npm run build, npm test — build and test output
• git status, ls -la, cat package.json — read-only operations

Commonly requires approval:

• npm install <package> — modifies dependencies
• rm -rf <path> — deletes files
• mv <a> <b> — moves files and can overwrite
• sed -i ... — in-place file edits

Recommended setup

A good default starting point:

• Enable Read project files
• Leave edits, commands, browser, and MCP off until you have a specific reason to enable them

If you enable file edits, use Checkpoints so you can roll back quickly if something goes wrong.

---

YOLO mode

YOLO mode is Auto Approve applied to everything at once. Enable it and Cline auto-approves all actions without exception: file changes anywhere on the system, terminal commands, browser actions, MCP tools, and mode transitions.

YOLO mode disables all safety checks. Cline will execute whatever it decides — including destructive operations — without asking for permission. Only use it in isolated or throwaway environments.

What gets auto-approved

When YOLO mode is active:

• All file operations, including files outside your workspace
• All terminal commands, including potentially destructive ones
• Browser actions
• MCP server tools
• Mode transitions (Plan to Act)

When to use YOLO mode

Rapid prototyping

Zero friction for throwaway experiments where mistakes don’t matter.

Trusted repetitive tasks

Tasks where you’ve already validated Cline’s approach and want to eliminate approval overhead.

Demonstrations

Show Cline’s capabilities without interruptions from approval dialogs.

Isolated environments

Sandboxed or containerized projects where the blast radius of any mistake is limited.

What could go wrong

With YOLO mode on, Cline could:

• Delete important files without warning
• Execute commands that modify system settings
• Make network requests to external services
• Overwrite configuration files
• Install or uninstall packages
• Commit and push changes to version control

Best practices for YOLO mode

• Start with isolated environments. Use throwaway projects or sandboxed environments before enabling YOLO mode on real work.
• Be specific with your requests. Vague instructions combined with unlimited permissions produce unpredictable results.
• Monitor the output. Cline still shows what it’s doing — watch the terminal and file changes in real time.
• Keep version control active. Git becomes your safety net when all other checks are bypassed.

Enabling YOLO mode

Navigate to Cline Settings → Features and check YOLO Mode. There are no additional confirmation dialogs. Once enabled, all actions are auto-approved immediately. Uncheck to disable.

Related

• Checkpoints — Roll back file changes when something goes wrong
• Subagents — Subagent launches follow the “Read project files” auto-approve setting
• Web Tools — Browser use can be auto-approved with the “Use the browser” toggle