---
title: "How to Enable YOLO Mode in Autohand Code | AgentRQ Guidelines"
url: https://agentrq.com/guidelines/yolo-mode/autohand-code
description: "Autohand Code YOLO mode: autohand --yolo, /yolo, --unrestricted or permissions.mode unrestricted. Patterns, time limits, deny lists, and ACP approvals."
---

![](https://agentrq.com/assets/agent-icons/autohand-code.svg) Checked October 30, 2026 | [All YOLO Mode guides](https://agentrq.com/guidelines/yolo-mode/)

# How to Enable YOLO Mode in Autohand Code

To run Autohand Code in YOLO mode, start it with `autohand --yolo`, or type `/yolo` in a running session. Autohand's version is more granular than most: `--yolo` takes a pattern, so you can auto-approve only some tools, and `--timeout` ends it after a set time. For no prompts at all, there is also `--unrestricted`.

This page is one of our [YOLO mode guides](https://agentrq.com/guidelines/yolo-mode/), and part of our guide to [YOLO mode in every coding agent](https://agentrq.com/blog/what-is-yolo-mode-and-how-to-turn-it-on-in-every-coding-agent). Everything below was checked against the Autohand Code CLI source and docs (autohandai/code-cli, npm autohand-cli 0.9.9) and its ACP adapter (autohandai/autohand-acp 0.2.1) on October 30, 2026.

![Animated sketch of YOLO mode in AgentRQ: claude waits to run go test, YOLO is flipped on for the task, and every later edit and test run lands auto-allowed in the Trajectory view](https://agentrq.com/assets/sketches/yolo-mode.svg)

## What YOLO Mode Turns Off in Autohand Code

YOLO approves the tool calls that would otherwise ask you. Autohand's docs describe no sandbox for the commands it runs, so nothing else changes.

Two things still hold. Your `denyList` blocks matching calls even under `--yes` or `--unrestricted`. And `--plan` asks you to accept the plan even with `--yes` or `--unrestricted`, which is why `--plan` and `--yolo` cannot be combined.

One default is worth knowing: a full-screen interactive session starts in **Auto** mode, which runs without approval prompts. Set `ui.defaultInteractionMode` to `"default"` in `~/.autohand/config.json` if you want it to ask. Command, RPC and ACP runs never start in Auto mode.

## How to Enable YOLO Mode in Autohand Code

| Where | Setting | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Command line | `autohand --yolo` | Auto-approve every tool (`allow:*`) |
| Command line | `autohand --yolo allow:read,write` | Auto-approve only the listed tools |
| Command line | `autohand --yolo --timeout 600` | YOLO for 10 minutes, then normal approvals |
| Command line | `autohand --unrestricted` | Run without any approval prompts |
| Command line | `autohand -y` or `--yes` | Auto-confirm risky actions |
| In a session | `/yolo`, or Shift+Tab | Toggle YOLO, or cycle edit, plan, YOLO and auto modes |
| config.json | `"permissions": { "mode": "unrestricted" }` | No prompts by default |

bash

```bash
autohand --yolo
```

A `deny:` pattern works the other way round: `--yolo deny:delete` auto-approves everything except the tools you list. When `--timeout` runs out, the permission settings you had before `--yolo` come back.

### The Halfway Option

`permissions` in `~/.autohand/config.json` has three modes: `interactive` (the default, asks about dangerous operations), `unrestricted` and `restricted` (denies them). Under it, `allowList` names patterns that never ask and `denyList` names patterns that are always blocked:

json

```json
{
  "permissions": {
    "mode": "interactive",
    "allowList": ["run_command:npm *", "run_command:git status"],
    "denyList": ["run_command:rm -rf *", "run_command:sudo *"]
  }
}
```

`/permissions` in a session shows and edits the current settings.

## How to Enable YOLO Mode in Autohand Code Through AgentRQ

Autohand's YOLO covers a session, or a time window. AgentRQ lets you make the decision per task, and answer from somewhere other than the terminal.

### Approve From the AgentRQ Task Instead of the Terminal

Connect Autohand Code to an AgentRQ workspace through the [ACP Gateway](https://agentrq.com/docs/connect-acp-agent) ([Autohand Code setup guide](https://agentrq.com/docs/agents/autohand-code)):

bash

```bash
npx @agentrq/acp-gateway@latest --agent autohand
```

This registry entry still runs Autohand's older ACP adapter, which Autohand has archived. That adapter only forwards tool approvals to the client when `AUTOHAND_PERMISSION_MODE=external` is set. The CLI now has its own ACP server (version 0.9.8 and later), and Autohand recommends it. To use it, install the CLI and hand its command to the gateway:

bash

```bash
npx @agentrq/acp-gateway@latest -- autohand --acp
```

The native server offers four ACP session modes: **Ask** (`default`), **Plan**, **YOLO** and **Auto**. In Ask and Plan it sends each approval to the client, and AgentRQ keeps the session in Ask. Don't start it with `permissions.mode` set to `unrestricted`, or Autohand opens the session in YOLO and approves its own calls. Each permission request now shows up in the AgentRQ task on the web, on your phone or in Slack, together with the command or edit it is asking about. Answer **Allow Once**, **Always Allow** or **Deny** from wherever you are, and Autohand carries on. If nobody answers within 30 minutes, the gateway cancels the turn instead of guessing. Change the limit with `--permission-timeout`.

### Turn On YOLO for One Task

Flip the **YOLO** toggle on a task, or when you create it, to put just that task in [YOLO mode](https://agentrq.com/features/yolo-mode). Every permission request in it is approved automatically and Autohand never waits, while every other task in the workspace still asks. [Scheduled tasks](https://agentrq.com/features/task-scheduling), [event triggers](https://agentrq.com/features/events) and [workflow](https://agentrq.com/features/workflows) steps have the same switch, so an unattended job can run in YOLO while your interactive work stays supervised.

![The YOLO toggle on a task in AgentRQ being switched on, then off again](https://agentrq.com/assets/guidelines/yolo-mode-task-toggle.gif)

### Turn YOLO On or Off in Workspace Settings

To make YOLO the default for a whole workspace, open the workspace, go to **Settings**, choose the **Automations** tab and flip **YOLO Mode (Execute All)**. Click **Update Workspace** to save. Switch it off the same way. The switch is off by default, and every permission request in the workspace is approved automatically while it is on.

![Workspace Settings in AgentRQ: the YOLO Mode (Execute All) switch turned on and saved, then off and saved](https://agentrq.com/assets/guidelines/yolo-mode-workspace-settings.gif)

### A Safe YOLO Setup for Autohand Code

- → **Keep a deny list.** `denyList` entries hold even under `--yes` and `--unrestricted`, so put `rm -rf` and `sudo` there before you go YOLO.
- → **Allow the boring tools, not everything.** **Always Allow** adds the tool to the workspace's auto-approved list, so the routine calls stop asking and the risky ones still do. Prune that list in workspace settings now and then.
- → **Leave the workspace-wide switch off.** Turn YOLO on per task instead, so it never outlives the job you trusted.
- → **Bring your own sandbox.** Autohand has none, so run YOLO tasks in a container or a throwaway clone.
- → **Commit first.** Start every YOLO task from a clean git tree, so any change is one `git reset` away.
- → **Read the record.** The [tool call history](https://agentrq.com/features/tool-call-history) lists every call the task made, including the ones that were auto-approved.

## FAQ

**How do I enable YOLO mode in Autohand Code?** Start it with `autohand --yolo`, or type `/yolo` in a running session.

**Can I auto-approve only some tools in Autohand?** Yes. Pass a pattern, such as `--yolo allow:read,write`, or `--yolo deny:delete` to approve everything except deletes.

**How do I limit YOLO to a set time?** Add `--timeout` with a number of seconds. When it runs out, Autohand goes back to asking.

**What is the difference between --yolo and --unrestricted?** `--yolo` auto-approves the tools its pattern matches, all of them by default, and works with `--timeout`. `--unrestricted` runs with no approval prompts at all, though your deny list still blocks matching calls.

**How do I approve Autohand commands remotely?** Connect Autohand Code to [AgentRQ](https://agentrq.com) through the ACP Gateway. Its permission requests show up in the task on the web, your phone or Slack.

For every other agent, see [what YOLO mode is and how to turn it on in every coding agent](https://agentrq.com/blog/what-is-yolo-mode-and-how-to-turn-it-on-in-every-coding-agent).