Managing Goose Modes

Goose’s permissions determine how much autonomy it has when modifying files, using extensions, and performing automated actions. By selecting a permission mode, you have full control over how Goose interacts with your development environment.

Permission Modes

Mode	Description	Best For
Completely Autonomous	Goose can modify files, use extensions, and delete files without requiring approval.	Users who want full automation and seamless integration into their workflow.
Manual Approval	Goose asks for confirmation before using any tools or extensions.	Users who want to review and approve every change and tool usage.
Smart Approval	Goose uses a risk-based approach to automatically approve low-risk actions and flag others for approval.	Users who want a balanced mix of autonomy and oversight based on the action’s impact.
Chat Only	Goose only engages in chat, with no extension use or file modifications.	Users who prefer a conversational AI experience without automation.

warning

Autonoumous Mode is applied by default.

Configuring Goose Mode

Here's how to configure:

Goose CLI

In Session

To change modes mid-session, use the /mode command.

• Autonoumous: /mode auto
• Approve: /mode approve
• Chat: /mode chat

From Settings

1. Run the following command:

goose configure

2. Select Goose Settings from the menu and press Enter.

┌ goose-configure
│
◆ What would you like to configure?
| ○ Configure Providers
| ○ Add Extension
| ○ Toggle Extensions
| ○ Remove Extension
| ● Goose Settings (Set the Goose Mode, Tool Output, Experiment and more)
└

3. Choose Goose Mode from the menu and press Enter.

┌   goose-configure
│
◇  What would you like to configure?
│  Goose Settings
│
◆  What setting would you like to configure?
│  ● Goose Mode (Configure Goose mode)
|  ○ Tool Output
└

4. Choose the Goose mode you would like to configure.

┌   goose-configure
│
◇  What would you like to configure?
│  Goose Settings
│
◇  What setting would you like to configure?
│  Goose Mode
│
◆  Which Goose mode would you like to configure?
│  ● Auto Mode
|  ○ Approve Mode
|  ○ Smart Approve Mode    
|  ○ Chat Mode
|
└  Set to Auto Mode - full file modification enabled

Goose Desktop

You can change modes before or during a session and it will take effect immediately.

In Session

Click the Goose Mode option from the bottom menu.

From Settings

1. Click ... in the upper right corner
2. Click Settings
3. Under Mode Selection, choose the mode you'd like

info

If you choose Approve mode, you will see "Allow" and "Deny" buttons in your session windows during tool calls. Goose will only ask for permission for tools that it deems are 'write' tools, e.g. any 'text editor write', 'text editor edit', 'bash - rm, cp, mv' commands.

Read/write approval makes best effort attempt at classifying read or write tools. This is interpreted by your LLM provider.