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Docs / Approvals
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  2. Using Arcon

Approvals

When an agent needs your permission to run a command, edit a file or fetch a page, the request comes to your phone instead of blocking the terminal. Every request says, in plain words, what will happen, how risky it is and whether it can be undone. You decide with a tap.
5 min read

How a request reaches you

Claude Code’s permission request goes through Arcon’s hook to the Arcon running next to it, then to your account, then to your phone as a notification. Your answer takes the same way back, and the agent carries on or stops. Codex does the same through its own hooks.

How an approval reaches your phone1. Claude Code to arcon: Wants to run a tool 2. arcon to Cloud: Approval 3. Cloud to You: “Allow Claude Code to use Bash?” 4. You: You tap Approve 5. You to Cloud: Approved 6. Cloud to arcon: Decision 7. arcon to Claude Code: Allowed, carry onClaude CodearconCloudYouWants to run a toolpermission request1Approval2“Allow Claude Code to use Bash?”notification3You tap Approve4Approved5Decision6Allowed, carry on7
The agent waits while you decide. Nobody answers in 9 minutes? It's denied. Arcon not running? You get Claude Code's normal prompt in the terminal.

Reading a request

Every card answers three questions:

  • What will happen, in a sentence, with the exact command or file underneath (secrets hidden) under Technical details.
  • How risky it is: Low risk for reads, Medium risk for changes, High risk for things like rm, git push, sudo or curl … | sh.
  • Whether it can be undone: You can undo this, You can undo part of this or This can’t be undone.
Home on the phone: Echo wants to read 3 Notion pages about competitors. Low risk, you can undo this, with Deny and Allow once.Home on the phone: Echo wants to read 3 Notion pages about competitors. Low risk, you can undo this, with Deny and Allow once.

Arcon also suggests a choice: Looks safe for low-risk reads, Take a look when it’s worth a second, and We suggest denying for clear dangers such as piping a download into a shell. The suggestion is advice; the decision is always yours.

Not sure? Tap Explain more for a few plain sentences: why the agent wants it, and what could go wrong.

Approve or deny

  • Tap the notification, or open Inbox, and choose Approve or Deny.
  • A High risk request needs a second press: Tap again to approve.
  • For anything that isn’t high risk, Always allow Bash for Claude Code (with the tool and agent in question) stops the same tool from asking that agent again.

Codex approvals

Codex’s permission requests reach your phone too, once its hooks are installed and trusted:

  1. Install the hooks

    Run arcon install codex on the computer where Codex runs.

  2. Trust them once in Codex

    In Codex, type /hooks and press t. Do it again after an Arcon update that changes the hooks; arcon doctor tells you when.

  3. Answer from anywhere

    Your phone gets 2 minutes to answer (the full 9 minutes when the session is taken over on your phone). After that Arcon steps aside and Codex asks in the terminal as usual, and the card on your phone expires. Pressing Esc in Codex ends the card too.

Timeouts and fallbacks

SituationWhat happens
Nobody answers a Claude Code requestIt waits up to 9 minutes, then counts as denied.
Nobody answers a Codex requestAfter 2 minutes (9 in Take over), Codex asks in the terminal.
Arcon isn’t runningThe agent asks in the terminal as usual. Arcon never blocks you.
No requests arrive at allClaude Code is probably set to decide on its own. See permission mode.
You chose “Always allow” earlierThat tool no longer asks that agent, so nothing reaches your phone for it.

Written for connector 0.12.0 and the current apps.Something unclear or wrong? Tell us