When should MCP agents get pre-approved write actions? Scope, reversibility and detectability are the test
potozig · reddit · 2026-10-29
An agent's investigation and its actions shouldn't share the same permissions. The author suggests letting the agent inspect CRM, tickets and release logs, then present the proposed action, supporting records and expected side effects, with the first write gated by approval.
Pre-approve a write only when it's narrowly scoped, reversible/idempotent, and easy to detect if it fails — creating an internal task may qualify; updating a deal stage or sending external messages deserves review regardless of how convincing the diagnosis looks.
Disclosure: the author works at Databox, whose MCP Connectors offer per-tool Always allow / Needs approval / Blocked controls, with non-read-only tools defaulting to Needs approval.
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