`genesis approvals`

Manage exec approvals for the local host, gateway host, or a node host. By default, commands target the local approvals file on disk. Use --gateway to target the gateway, or --node to target a specific node.

Alias: genesis exec-approvals

Exec approvals: Exec approvals
Nodes: Nodes

`genesis exec-policy`

genesis exec-policy is the local convenience command for keeping the requested tools.exec.* config and the local host approvals file aligned in one step.

Use it when you want to:

inspect the local requested policy, host approvals file, and effective merge
apply a local preset such as YOLO or deny-all
synchronize local tools.exec.* and local ~/.genesis/exec-approvals.json

Examples:

genesis exec-policy show
genesis exec-policy show --json

genesis exec-policy preset yolo
genesis exec-policy preset cautious --json

genesis exec-policy set --host gateway --security full --ask off --ask-fallback full

Output modes:

no --json: prints the human-readable table view
--json: prints machine-readable structured output

Current scope:

exec-policy is local-only
it updates the local config file and the local approvals file together
it does not push policy to the gateway host or a node host
--host node is rejected in this command because node exec approvals are fetched from the node at runtime and must be managed through node-targeted approvals commands instead
genesis exec-policy show marks host=node scopes as node-managed at runtime instead of deriving an effective policy from the local approvals file

If you need to edit remote host approvals directly, keep using genesis approvals set --gateway or genesis approvals set --node <id|name|ip>.

Common commands

genesis approvals get
genesis approvals get --node <id|name|ip>
genesis approvals get --gateway

genesis approvals get now shows the effective exec policy for local, gateway, and node targets:

requested tools.exec policy
host approvals-file policy
effective result after precedence rules are applied

Precedence is intentional:

the host approvals file is the enforceable source of truth
requested tools.exec policy can narrow or broaden intent, but the effective result is still derived from the host rules
--node combines the node host approvals file with gateway tools.exec policy, because both still apply at runtime
if gateway config is unavailable, the CLI falls back to the node approvals snapshot and notes that the final runtime policy could not be computed

Replace approvals from a file

genesis approvals set --file ./exec-approvals.json
genesis approvals set --stdin <<'EOF'
{ version: 1, defaults: { security: "full", ask: "off" } }
EOF
genesis approvals set --node <id|name|ip> --file ./exec-approvals.json
genesis approvals set --gateway --file ./exec-approvals.json

set accepts JSON5, not only strict JSON. Use either --file or --stdin, not both.

"Never prompt" / YOLO example

For a host that should never stop on exec approvals, set the host approvals defaults to full + off:

genesis approvals set --stdin <<'EOF'
{
  version: 1,
  defaults: {
    security: "full",
    ask: "off",
    askFallback: "full"
  }
}
EOF

Node variant:

genesis approvals set --node <id|name|ip> --stdin <<'EOF'
{
  version: 1,
  defaults: {
    security: "full",
    ask: "off",
    askFallback: "full"
  }
}
EOF

This changes the host approvals file only. To keep the requested Genesis policy aligned, also set:

genesis config set tools.exec.host gateway
genesis config set tools.exec.security full
genesis config set tools.exec.ask off

Why tools.exec.host=gateway in this example:

host=auto still means "sandbox when available, otherwise gateway".
YOLO is about approvals, not routing.
If you want host exec even when a sandbox is configured, make the host choice explicit with gateway or /exec host=gateway.

This matches the current host-default YOLO behavior. Tighten it if you want approvals.

Local shortcut:

genesis exec-policy preset yolo

That local shortcut updates both the requested local tools.exec.* config and the local approvals defaults together. It is equivalent in intent to the manual two-step setup above, but only for the local machine.

Allowlist helpers

genesis approvals allowlist add "~/Projects/**/bin/rg"
genesis approvals allowlist add --agent main --node <id|name|ip> "/usr/bin/uptime"
genesis approvals allowlist add --agent "*" "/usr/bin/uname"

genesis approvals allowlist remove "~/Projects/**/bin/rg"

Common options

get, set, and allowlist add|remove all support:

--node <id|name|ip>
--gateway
shared node RPC options: --url, --token, --timeout, --json

Targeting notes:

no target flags means the local approvals file on disk
--gateway targets the gateway host approvals file
--node targets one node host after resolving id, name, IP, or id prefix

allowlist add|remove also supports:

--agent <id> (defaults to *)

Notes

--node uses the same resolver as genesis nodes (id, name, ip, or id prefix).
--agent defaults to "*", which applies to all agents.
The node host must advertise system.execApprovals.get/set (macOS app or headless node host).
Approvals files are stored per host at ~/.genesis/exec-approvals.json.

genesis approvals

genesis exec-policy