Permissions

t-req uses the permission config to decide whether a given action should run automatically, prompt you, or be blocked.

As of v1.1.1, the legacy tools boolean config is deprecated and has been merged into permission. The old tools config is still supported for backwards compatibility.

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Actions

Each permission rule resolves to one of:

• "allow" — run without approval
• "ask" — prompt for approval
• "deny" — block the action

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Configuration

You can set permissions globally (with *), and override specific tools.

treq.json

{
  "$schema": "https://t-req.ai/config.json",
  "permission": {
    "*": "ask",
    "bash": "allow",
    "edit": "deny"
  }
}

You can also set all permissions at once:

treq.json

{
  "$schema": "https://t-req.ai/config.json",
  "permission": "allow"
}

---

Granular Rules (Object Syntax)

For most permissions, you can use an object to apply different actions based on the tool input.

treq.json

{
  "$schema": "https://t-req.ai/config.json",
  "permission": {
    "bash": {
      "*": "ask",
      "git *": "allow",
      "npm *": "allow",
      "rm *": "deny"
    },
    "edit": {
      "*": "deny",
      "packages/web/src/content/docs/*.mdx": "allow"
    }
  }
}

Rules are evaluated by pattern match, with the last matching rule winning. A common pattern is to put the catch-all "*" rule first, and more specific rules after it.

Wildcards

Permission patterns use simple wildcard matching:

• * matches zero or more of any character
• ? matches exactly one character
• All other characters match literally

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Available Permissions

t-req permissions are keyed by tool name, plus a couple of safety guards:

• read — reading a file (matches the file path)
• edit — all file modifications (covers edit, write, patch, multiedit)
• glob — file globbing (matches the glob pattern)
• grep — content search (matches the regex pattern)
• list — listing files in a directory (matches the directory path)
• bash — running shell commands (matches parsed commands like git status --porcelain)
• task — launching subagents (matches the subagent type)
• skill — loading a skill (matches the skill name)
• lsp — running LSP queries (currently non-granular)
• todoread, todowrite — reading/updating the todo list
• webfetch — fetching a URL (matches the URL)
• websearch, codesearch — web/code search (matches the query)
• external_directory — triggered when a tool touches paths outside the project working directory
• doom_loop — triggered when the same tool call repeats 3 times with identical input

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Defaults

If you don’t specify anything, t-req starts from permissive defaults:

• Most permissions default to "allow".
• doom_loop and external_directory default to "ask".
• read is "allow", but .env files are denied by default:

treq.json

{
  "permission": {
    "read": {
      "*": "allow",
      "*.env": "deny",
      "*.env.*": "deny",
      "*.env.example": "allow"
    }
  }
}

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What “Ask” Does

When t-req prompts for approval, the UI offers three outcomes:

• once — approve just this request
• always — approve future requests matching the suggested patterns (for the rest of the current t-req session)
• reject — deny the request

The set of patterns that always would approve is provided by the tool (for example, bash approvals typically whitelist a safe command prefix like git status*).

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Agents

You can override permissions per agent. Agent permissions are merged with the global config, and agent rules take precedence. Learn more about agent permissions.

treq.json

{
  "$schema": "https://t-req.ai/config.json",
  "permission": {
    "bash": {
      "*": "ask",
      "git status": "allow"
    }
  },
  "agent": {
    "build": {
      "permission": {
        "bash": {
          "*": "ask",
          "git status": "allow",
          "git push": "allow"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

You can also configure agent permissions in Markdown:

~/.config/treq/agent/review.md

---
description: Code review without edits
mode: subagent
permission:
  edit: deny
  bash: ask
  webfetch: deny
---

Only analyze code and suggest changes.