01 Approvals & control · Split-button approval

Allow once is the big button; wider trust sits one click deeper

Visual Studio Code (Copilot agent) · IDE

VS Code tool confirmation: 'Install Extension rust-analyzer?' with an Allow split button open showing Allow in this Session, Allow in this Workspace, Always Allow, and a Skip button. — Screenshot from Visual Studio Code documentation, © Microsoft, CC BY 3.0 US. Unmodified. License · Original image · Credits & takedown

The insight

A split button can hold a whole permission ladder while making only the narrowest rung the reflex click.

Documented

from the source

Visible in the image: The dialog names the action ('Install Extension rust-analyzer?') and explains it in one sentence. 'Allow' is the primary button; its arrow opens 'Allow in this Session', 'Allow in this Workspace' and 'Always Allow'. 'Skip' sits beside it.

You can approve a single use, or grant approval for the session, the workspace, or all future invocations.“approve a single use or grant approval for the session, workspace, or all future invocations” — Tool approval section
Saved approvals can be reviewed in 'Chat: Manage Tool Approval' and cleared with 'Chat: Reset Tool Confirmations'.“Run Chat: Manage Tool Approval … Run Chat: Reset Tool Confirmations … to clear all saved approvals” — Manage tool approvals / Reset tool confirmations
A tool can be set so the dialog never offers an auto-approval option.“The confirmation dialog then does not offer an auto-approval option for that tool.” — Prevent tools from being auto-approved

Our read

design interpretation

Why it works

A distracted click grants the least. The broader options don't disappear; they move behind a deliberate second gesture and read top to bottom as an ordered ladder.

Trade-off

Once the menu is open, 'Always Allow' looks the same as 'Allow in this Session'. The broadest grant sits one row from the mildest, with nothing to set it apart.

Steal this

Give the broadest option a different treatment (a warning, separator or confirmation) than the mild ones.
Pair every saved grant with one place to review and revoke it.
Let teams pin specific tools to 'always ask'.

Source

VS Code docs: Manage approvals and permissions

2026-10-15 · Accessed; docs page is undated

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