ApprovalsThe decision before an agent acts
Decide before an agent acts
When an agent wants to change a file, run a command or reach a new site, it stops and asks. You see the exact action and decide from the task, the channel, the bell or your phone.
Tasks
New Task
Tasks
New TaskSee the exact action
An approval names the action and the file, command or site it touches, with a one-line explanation.
Review is Thursday. Priya, can you get the portfolio pack started? Same structure as Q2, and Northwind and Alder go in the risk section this time.
@Scout pull the Q3 updates for all 14 portfolio companies from the data room and flag anything more than 10% off plan.
Three companies moved more than 10% against plan: Northwind Logistics (revenue down 14%, one lost contract), Alder Health (up 18%, the payer contract started early) and Fenwick Tools (EBITDA down 11%, freight). Sources are linked in the doc.
@Ledger rebuild the valuation bridge with the Q3 actuals and rerun the covenant tests for Northwind and Fenwick.
Northwind passes leverage at 3.9x against a 4.5x covenant. Fenwick's interest cover is 2.1x with the test at 2.0x: passing, but tight. One tab per company in the workbook.
@Atlas can we have the review deck from this, flagged companies up front?
@Ledger keep the covenant headroom somewhere we can all watch it
Published Covenant headroom to the workspace. It reads the bridge workbook and refreshes whenever the workbook changes; it is open on the right.
@Atlas put the Fenwick headroom chart on slide 5 of the review deck
Slide 5 is ready with the interest cover chart and the 2.0x test line. Writing it back to the shared deck needs your approval.
This changes a file your whole team can see. If you say no, the file stays as it is.
DetailsDecide from anywhere
Decide in the task, in the channel, from the bell on any device or from a notification on your phone.
Tasks
New TaskKeep every decision
Each request and decision is recorded on the agent's log, with who decided and when.
Audit log
Who granted, shared and revoked access across the organization, and every agent permission decision, with who answered.
| Time (UTC) | Outcome | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Today | ||
| 09:39:02.118 | Allowed | Atlas changed q3-portfolio-review.pptx · approved by Priya Natarajan |
| 09:38:41.774 | Asked | Atlas asked to change q3-portfolio-review.pptx · sent to a person to decide |
| 09:38:40.210 | Recorded | Atlas read q3-valuation-bridge.xlsx · for Priya Natarajan |
| 09:24:48.902 | Recorded | Atlas wrote q3-portfolio-review.pptx · under Q3 portfolio review deck, for Maya Okafor |
| 09:24:12.388 | Recorded | Atlas read q3-portfolio-updates.docx · for Maya Okafor |
Showing 1 to 5 of 5 events
Agents stop and ask first
Writes ask by default. An agent's turn pauses on an approval until a person decides, and nothing runs in the meantime.
Review is Thursday. Priya, can you get the portfolio pack started? Same structure as Q2, and Northwind and Alder go in the risk section this time.
@Scout pull the Q3 updates for all 14 portfolio companies from the data room and flag anything more than 10% off plan.
Three companies moved more than 10% against plan: Northwind Logistics (revenue down 14%, one lost contract), Alder Health (up 18%, the payer contract started early) and Fenwick Tools (EBITDA down 11%, freight). Sources are linked in the doc.
@Ledger rebuild the valuation bridge with the Q3 actuals and rerun the covenant tests for Northwind and Fenwick.
Northwind passes leverage at 3.9x against a 4.5x covenant. Fenwick's interest cover is 2.1x with the test at 2.0x: passing, but tight. One tab per company in the workbook.
@Atlas can we have the review deck from this, flagged companies up front?
@Ledger keep the covenant headroom somewhere we can all watch it
Published Covenant headroom to the workspace. It reads the bridge workbook and refreshes whenever the workbook changes; it is open on the right.
@Atlas put the Fenwick headroom chart on slide 5 of the review deck
Slide 5 is ready with the interest cover chart and the 2.0x test line. Writing it back to the shared deck needs your approval.
This changes a file your whole team can see. If you say no, the file stays as it is.
DetailsReview is Thursday. Priya, can you get the portfolio pack started? Same structure as Q2, and Northwind and Alder go in the risk section this time.
@Scout pull the Q3 updates for all 14 portfolio companies from the data room and flag anything more than 10% off plan.
Three companies moved more than 10% against plan: Northwind Logistics (revenue down 14%, one lost contract), Alder Health (up 18%, the payer contract started early) and Fenwick Tools (EBITDA down 11%, freight). Sources are linked in the doc.
@Ledger rebuild the valuation bridge with the Q3 actuals and rerun the covenant tests for Northwind and Fenwick.
Northwind passes leverage at 3.9x against a 4.5x covenant. Fenwick's interest cover is 2.1x with the test at 2.0x: passing, but tight. One tab per company in the workbook.
@Atlas can we have the review deck from this, flagged companies up front?
@Ledger keep the covenant headroom somewhere we can all watch it
Published Covenant headroom to the workspace. It reads the bridge workbook and refreshes whenever the workbook changes; it is open on the right.
@Atlas put the Fenwick headroom chart on slide 5 of the review deck
Slide 5 is ready with the interest cover chart and the 2.0x test line. Writing it back to the shared deck needs your approval.
This changes a file your whole team can see. If you say no, the file stays as it is.
DetailsDecide wherever you are
A pending approval reaches you in the bell, on your lock screen and in the channel where the work started.
Tasks
New TaskTasks
New TaskTrust an agent a step at a time
When a request is routine, allow it for good. Every standing grant is listed on the agent, where you can remove it.
Build the Q3 review deck from the updates doc and the valuation bridge. Same structure as Q2, the three flagged companies up front.
Reading the Q3 updates and the bridge workbook, then drafting from the Q2 template.
- Read q3-portfolio-updates.docx, 14 companies
- Read q3-valuation-bridge.xlsx, 3 scenarios
- Draft slides from the Q2 template, 18 slides
- Place the flagged companies first, Northwind, Fenwick, Alder
- Render q3-portfolio-review.pptx, 4.1 MB
- Wrote q3-portfolio-review.pptx, 4.1 MB
Deck is ready: 18 slides, the three variance companies on slides 3 to 5 with the covenant tests beside each, the full portfolio table in the appendix.
q3-portfolio-review.pptx4.1 MB · 18 slidesAdd the covenant headroom chart from the workbook to the Fenwick slide.
Added. Slide 5 now carries the interest-cover chart with the 2.0x test line; the appendix table is unchanged.
Q3 portfolio review deck
Deck is ready: 18 slides, the three variance companies on slides 3 to 5 with the covenant tests beside each, the full portfolio table in the appendix.
Added. Slide 5 now carries the interest-cover chart with the 2.0x test line; the appendix table is unchanged.
What was checked
Read q3-portfolio-updates.docx: 14 companies
Read q3-valuation-bridge.xlsx: 3 scenarios
Draft slides from the Q2 template: 18 slides
How access works
- Atlas can only see channels it has been added to.
- Everything Atlas does is recorded under its name, with the task it was working on.
Approvals
Always allowed
Things you have told this agent it can always do, so it stops asking. Remove one and it goes back to asking.
Build the Q3 review deck from the updates doc and the valuation bridge. Same structure as Q2, the three flagged companies up front.
Reading the Q3 updates and the bridge workbook, then drafting from the Q2 template.
- Read q3-portfolio-updates.docx, 14 companies
- Read q3-valuation-bridge.xlsx, 3 scenarios
- Draft slides from the Q2 template, 18 slides
- Place the flagged companies first, Northwind, Fenwick, Alder
- Render q3-portfolio-review.pptx, 4.1 MB
- Wrote q3-portfolio-review.pptx, 4.1 MB
Deck is ready: 18 slides, the three variance companies on slides 3 to 5 with the covenant tests beside each, the full portfolio table in the appendix.
q3-portfolio-review.pptx4.1 MB · 18 slidesAdd the covenant headroom chart from the workbook to the Fenwick slide.
Added. Slide 5 now carries the interest-cover chart with the 2.0x test line; the appendix table is unchanged.
How access works
- Atlas can only see channels it has been added to.
- Everything Atlas does is recorded under its name, with the task it was working on.
Approvals
Always allowed
Things you have told this agent it can always do, so it stops asking. Remove one and it goes back to asking.
Make approvals the default
Reads are allowed, writes ask, the network is closed except for your allowlist, and every outcome is recorded.
Review is Thursday. Priya, can you get the portfolio pack started? Same structure as Q2, and Northwind and Alder go in the risk section this time.
@Scout pull the Q3 updates for all 14 portfolio companies from the data room and flag anything more than 10% off plan.
Three companies moved more than 10% against plan: Northwind Logistics (revenue down 14%, one lost contract), Alder Health (up 18%, the payer contract started early) and Fenwick Tools (EBITDA down 11%, freight). Sources are linked in the doc.
@Ledger rebuild the valuation bridge with the Q3 actuals and rerun the covenant tests for Northwind and Fenwick.
Northwind passes leverage at 3.9x against a 4.5x covenant. Fenwick's interest cover is 2.1x with the test at 2.0x: passing, but tight. One tab per company in the workbook.
@Atlas can we have the review deck from this, flagged companies up front?
@Ledger keep the covenant headroom somewhere we can all watch it
Published Covenant headroom to the workspace. It reads the bridge workbook and refreshes whenever the workbook changes; it is open on the right.
@Atlas put the Fenwick headroom chart on slide 5 of the review deck
Slide 5 is ready with the interest cover chart and the 2.0x test line. Writing it back to the shared deck needs your approval.
This changes a file your whole team can see. If you say no, the file stays as it is.
DetailsReview is Thursday. Priya, can you get the portfolio pack started? Same structure as Q2, and Northwind and Alder go in the risk section this time.
@Scout pull the Q3 updates for all 14 portfolio companies from the data room and flag anything more than 10% off plan.
Three companies moved more than 10% against plan: Northwind Logistics (revenue down 14%, one lost contract), Alder Health (up 18%, the payer contract started early) and Fenwick Tools (EBITDA down 11%, freight). Sources are linked in the doc.
@Ledger rebuild the valuation bridge with the Q3 actuals and rerun the covenant tests for Northwind and Fenwick.
Northwind passes leverage at 3.9x against a 4.5x covenant. Fenwick's interest cover is 2.1x with the test at 2.0x: passing, but tight. One tab per company in the workbook.
@Atlas can we have the review deck from this, flagged companies up front?
@Ledger keep the covenant headroom somewhere we can all watch it
Published Covenant headroom to the workspace. It reads the bridge workbook and refreshes whenever the workbook changes; it is open on the right.
@Atlas put the Fenwick headroom chart on slide 5 of the review deck
Slide 5 is ready with the interest cover chart and the 2.0x test line. Writing it back to the shared deck needs your approval.
This changes a file your whole team can see. If you say no, the file stays as it is.
DetailsApprove on every device
Decide in the web app, the desktop app, the phone apps with Face ID, or in Slack when Context is installed there.
Tasks
New Task
Approve work across Context
The same approval covers a task, a channel, a scheduled run and a sandbox, so there is one place to decide.
- TasksA task waits on the approval, then continues with your decision.
- TogetherAn approval raised in a channel sits on a card in the thread, where the team can see it.
- AutomationsA scheduled run that needs a decision waits for a person like any other task.
- Secure VMCommands and new network connections from a sandbox ask through the same approval.
Home
- q3-portfolio-review.pptx1h ago
- q3-valuation-bridge.xlsx2h ago
- q3-portfolio-updates.docx3h ago
- lp-letter.pptx5h ago
Home
- q3-portfolio-review.pptx1h ago
- q3-valuation-bridge.xlsx2h ago
- q3-portfolio-updates.docx3h ago
- lp-letter.pptx5h ago
Deploy in your environment
Approvals, the audit log and the sandboxes they guard all run inside your own deployment.
- Inside your deploymentApprovals and the audit log are stored in your own deployment.
- Self-hosted through KOTSInstall Context in your own environment with KOTS self-hosting.
- Air-gapped installationInstall Context air-gapped, without internet access.
- Your identity providerSign people in with SAML or OIDC and provision them with SCIM.
Context runs in production at Qualcomm. Read the case study
- Your own cloud
- Air-gapped
- Slack
Approvals are included in every Context workspace, including the Free plan.
- Free$0Includes Approvals
- Plus$20Per person per month
- EnterpriseCustomEnterprise deployments run in your own cloud.Talk to us about a plan
Questions
What asks for approval?
Writes, such as changing a shared file, ask by default. Commands that need a decision and connections to sites outside your allowlist ask too.
Who decides?
A person, never the agent. In a task, the approval waits for the person the agent is working for. In a channel, the card waits in the thread where your team can see it.
What happens while an approval is pending?
The agent waits. Nothing it asked for runs until someone allows it, and a decline leaves everything unchanged.
Can I stop being asked for the same thing?
Yes. Choose Always allow on the approval. The grant is listed on the agent's Permissions tab, where you can remove it.
Can we route approvals to a specific approver?
Not today. An approval waits in the task or the channel the work is in. There are no multi-step approval chains.
