Mode Runs without asking
Manual (default) Reads only
Accept edits (acceptEdits) Reads + file edits in the working directory + basic filesystem commands
Plan (plan) Reads only. No edits at all
Auto (auto) Everything, but a classifier model reviews each action first

Key points

  • Manual → Accept edits differs only in how often you’re asked. Both keep the guardrails on risky operations.
  • Plan is on a different axis. Not about frequency — it confines Claude to research and proposals.
  • Auto isn’t just “looser.” It adds a separate mechanism: a classifier vetting actions before they run.

Tokens

Only Auto adds model calls. The other three are equivalent.

Practical pattern

For anything non-trivial: start in Plan, approve, then execute in Accept edits.

discussion