A permission mode decides how much Claude does without asking you first, and auto mode lets it go ahead on more actions. A server-controlled setting decides whether a new session starts in auto mode when you have not picked a mode. Its built-in fallback, used when the server sends no value, has changed from off to on.
For this to apply, you must not have set a mode and other launch conditions must hold. In non-interactive sessions (such as print mode, -p) a further check must also pass. The same setting also decides whether permissions.defaultMode values from your settings files are taken into account. Readings taken before this release had the server returning off, both for this site's account and for an anonymous one.
Starting in auto mode means Claude acts without asking more often. If you want a different starting mode, setting permissions.defaultMode yourself is the way to be sure.
tengu_harbor_willow On for this account, and not off by defaultThe flag server returned on for the one account this site reads, and nothing in this release compiles it off by default. The compiled default is shown below, and says which it is when we cannot read one: a fifth of gates compile in a string or a number rather than on or off, and most published releases have no gate table behind them at all. No client can see what the server returns for your account.
This account: on · anonymous baseline: on · compiled default in v2.1.283: on
These values were read against a different version of Claude Code, so treat them as the nearest reading available instead of one taken on this release.
tengu_moss_anchor Off in both readingsThe flag server returned off for the account this site reads and for the anonymous baseline. A reading of off cannot rule out a rollout these two readings sit outside of.
This account: off · anonymous baseline: off · compiled default in v2.1.283: off
These values were read against a different version of Claude Code, so treat them as the nearest reading available instead of one taken on this release.
Read once, for one account on one subscription tier, against v2.1.283. It isn't a statement about your account. What a flag value here can and cannot tell you
Left unset, users can select **Auto mode** in Code and new Code sessions start in it; a mode the user already chose, or a Claude Code settings file's `permissions.defaultMode`, takes precedence, and Cowork does not offer it. Set to `true` …see the edit
| `autoModeEnabled` | Controls **Auto mode**. When the key is not set, Code sessions offer Auto mode and new sessions start in it unless the user has already chosen another mode or a Claude Code `permissions.defaultMode` applies. Set it to…see the edit
| [Starting permission mode](/docs/en/permission-modes#which-mode-a-session-starts-in) | Choose the permission mode your developers' terminal sessions start in instead of the built-in starting permission mode, or remove auto mode. The VS C…see the edit
The entry above is what we published on the day. These lines were added later, as Anthropic's own pages caught up, and they sit beside the original rather than replacing it.
| [Starting permission mode](/docs/en/permission-modes#which-mode-a-session-starts-in) | Choose the permission mode your developers' terminal sessions start in instead of the built-in starting permission mode, or remove auto mode. [Switch …admin-setup see the edit
A reading is one sample. Claude Code evaluates its flags remotely, so no client sees the targeting rule behind a value and this says nothing about your account.
A reading is one sample. Claude Code evaluates its flags remotely, so no client sees the targeting rule behind a value and this says nothing about your account.
A reading is one sample. Claude Code evaluates its flags remotely, so no client sees the targeting rule behind a value and this says nothing about your account.
A reading is one sample. Claude Code evaluates its flags remotely, so no client sees the targeting rule behind a value and this says nothing about your account.
A reading is one sample. Claude Code evaluates its flags remotely, so no client sees the targeting rule behind a value and this says nothing about your account.
One of the conditions that must also hold was not identified, so exactly which users can be affected is not settled.
permissions.defaultMode on Configuration reference
Changed interactive sessions on third-party providers or with telemetry off to start in auto mode when no permission mode is configured…