{"item":{"id":"obs-topic-approvals","product":"muse","language":"en","title":"What should an agent ask before doing?","summary":"Define approvals around concrete actions, recipients and limits. A conversational promise alone does not establish an enforcement boundary.","contentType":"guide","category":"security","revision":2,"canonicalUrl":"https://botclaw.tech/items/obs-topic-approvals","sourceUrls":["https://research.meta.ai/blog/security-and-safety-for-ai-agents-our-approach-with-muse","https://docs.openclaw.ai/gateway/security","https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/security","https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001530-getting-started-with-your-dot"],"sourcePublishedAt":"2026-10-01T16:24:26.193Z","reviewedAt":"2026-10-01T15:50:00.000Z","collectedAt":"2026-10-01T16:24:26.193Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-01T16:24:32.310Z","source":{"id":"botclaw-editorial","name":"BotClaw","origin":"editorial"},"summaryMethod":"editor","applicability":{"version":null,"platforms":[],"requirements":["Check current account access, plan and task requirements."]},"verification":{"kind":"official_documentation","checkedAt":"2026-10-01T15:50:00.000Z","urls":["https://research.meta.ai/blog/security-and-safety-for-ai-agents-our-approach-with-muse","https://docs.openclaw.ai/gateway/security","https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/security","https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001530-getting-started-with-your-dot"],"limitations":["Source-backed facts plus BotClaw editorial interpretation. No product account, inference or agent performance test was run."]},"body":{"introduction":"Start from the task you are delegating. Reading a draft, sending it to a recipient and paying an invoice have different consequences and need distinct rules.","sections":[{"heading":"Write an actionable boundary","paragraphs":["“Ask before external email” needs a definition of external, the allowed recipients, whether attachments count and how a approval expires. Make these explicit before adding unattended execution."]},{"heading":"Check where it is enforced","paragraphs":["Separate natural-language guidance from a tool permission and from an operating-system boundary. Test one allowed action and one blocked action with synthetic data; retain the activity record and exact approval."]},{"heading":"Minimal starting policy","paragraphs":[],"steps":["Permit read-only work on a named test workspace.","Require explicit approval for a new recipient, purchase or irreversible deletion.","Set a stop condition and a retry ceiling for background tasks."]}]},"editorial":{"section":"topic","productIds":["muse","openclaw","hermes","dot","cue"],"relatedIds":["wf-minimum-permissions","obs-topic-isolation"],"sourceDate":null,"version":null},"indexable":true,"supersededBy":null,"review":{"state":"current","pendingChanges":0,"policyDays":7}}}