#Permission levels

Choose exactly how much freedom a Shell session has — from looking without touching to running on its own — and change your mind at any moment.

#Overview

Every Shell session runs at a permission level you choose. The level decides how much Nourva can do on its own before it pauses for you: whether it only reads, proposes a plan and waits, asks before each change, works freely inside your workspace, or carries the whole task through automatically. The five levels are the same ones used everywhere in Nourva, so what you learn here applies across every surface.

This matters because the Shell is where direct, hands-on work happens — running commands, building, and testing. The permission level is how you set the balance between staying in the loop and letting work flow. Start cautious when you are exploring something new, and give more freedom once you trust the task. Whatever level you pick, you stay in control: you can change it whenever you want, and stopping always works immediately.

#What you can do

You can set a Shell session to any of the five permission levels:

• Look only: the session reads and inspects but never changes anything. Use it to explore, understand a project, or check state without risk.
• Plan first: the session proposes a plan and waits for your approval before it acts. Use it when you want to see the approach before any work begins.
• Ask before acting: the session pauses for your permission before each change. Use it when you want to approve every step as it happens.
• Work in your workspace: the session acts freely inside your project or workspace, and nothing outside it. Use it when the work is well understood and contained.
• Act automatically: the session carries the whole task through on its own. Use it for long, trusted tasks you do not need to babysit.

Across all five levels you can:

• Change the level at any time, even mid-task.
• Stop immediately, at any level, no matter what is running.
• Watch the work live so you can see what each level is allowing.

#How to use it

1. Decide how much freedom the task deserves. The newer or riskier it is, the lower the level; the more routine and well understood, the higher.
2. Start a Shell session and set its permission level. When in doubt, begin low — Look only or Plan first — and watch the first run.
3. As the session works, respond to anything it surfaces. At Plan first you approve the proposed approach; at Ask before acting you approve each change as it comes up.
4. Raise the level once you trust how the task is going. If it is behaving well and you no longer need to approve each step, move to Work in your workspace or Act automatically so the work can flow.
5. Lower the level again any time you want a closer look, or stop entirely. Stopping is immediate at every level.

#Examples

Run this in look-only — I just want to understand what the build does.

You see the session inspect and read through the work and report back, having changed nothing. Nourva describes what it found without touching anything.

Plan how you'd set this project up, then wait for me before doing anything.

You see a clear plan of the approach. Nothing runs until you approve it; once you do, the session begins working from the plan you accepted.

Go ahead and finish the whole thing automatically.

You see the session raised to act on its own, working the task through end to end with output streaming live. You can watch, lower the level, or stop at any point.

#Tips

• Begin cautious and earn freedom: Look only or Plan first for anything new, then raise the level once the task proves itself.
• Match the level to the boundary. Work in your workspace keeps actions inside your project and nothing outside it — a good middle ground for contained, trusted work.
• Watch the first run at any level so you can steer early, rather than discovering a wrong turn at the end.
• You are never locked in. Drop the level for a closer look, raise it to move faster, or stop outright — all of it works immediately.

#Related

• Permissions & control
• What the Shell is
• Where commands run
• Your workspace
• Watching it work