---
title: "Approvals And Requests"
description: "Understand human input, credentials, contact permissions, Gobii creation requests, and other approval checkpoints."
sidebar_label: "Approvals And Requests"
---

Approvals are how Gobii keeps humans in control. A Gobii can continue routine work, but it should pause when it needs a decision, sensitive access, or permission to change something important.

## Common request types

| Request | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| Human input | Gobii needs a decision, answer, selection, or clarification. |
| Secret request | Gobii needs credentials or an environment-style value to use a service. |
| Contact request | Gobii wants permission to communicate with a person or endpoint. |
| Spawn request | Gobii or Meta Gobii proposes creating another Gobii. |
| Change approval | Meta Gobii proposes changing names, charters, links, files, contacts, schedules, or limits. |

<Screenshot
  src="/images/product/meta-gobii-approval.jpg"
  alt="Meta Gobii timeline showing a pending approval request before creating a three-Gobii recruiting team."
  caption="Approval requests keep important changes explicit. Review the scope, then approve, revise, or narrow the instruction in chat."
/>

## How to respond

1. Read the request and the reason.
2. Check the scope: who, what, where, and for how long.
3. Approve only if the request matches your intent.
4. Reject or reply with a narrower instruction when the scope is too broad.
5. Use secrets flows for credentials. Do not paste credentials into chat.

Example response:

> Approve contacting Taylor only about the renewal spreadsheet. Do not add Taylor as a long-term contact yet.

## Human input requests

Human input requests are ordinary decisions Gobii cannot or should not make alone. They may include options or a free-text answer.

Use them to clarify business judgment:

- Which account list should it use?
- Is the draft ready to send?
- Should a finding be escalated?
- Which vendor is the priority?

## Credential and secret requests

When Gobii needs access, it may request a secret. Secrets are stored outside the chat transcript and can be scoped to a Gobii or promoted for broader reuse when appropriate.

Use [Secrets And Credentials](/using-gobii/secrets-and-credentials) for the full model.

## Contact requests

Contact approvals control who can talk to a Gobii and who a Gobii can contact. They help prevent accidental outreach.

Before approving a contact request, check:

- The person or endpoint.
- Whether inbound, outbound, or both directions are needed.
- Whether the contact should help configure the Gobii or only communicate with it.
- Whether the approval should be temporary or long-lived.

See [Contact Access And Allowlists](/admin-and-teams/contact-access-and-allowlists).

## Meta Gobii approvals

Meta Gobii can propose changes across Gobiis, but important mutations should appear in an approval plan before execution.

It should ask before:

- Creating a Gobii.
- Updating a name, charter, status, schedule, intelligence setting, or credit limit.
- Connecting or disconnecting Gobiis.
- Sending a brief to another Gobii.
- Adding or removing contacts.
- Uploading files.
- Archiving a Gobii.

See [Meta Gobii](/using-gobii/meta-gobii).

## Good approval language

Add approval boundaries to charters and messages:

- "Ask before contacting anyone outside our company."
- "Ask before using credentials on a new domain."
- "Ask before creating or archiving another Gobii."
- "Do not start recurring work unless I explicitly approve the cadence."
- "Do not spend more than the daily credit limit without asking."

Clear boundaries reduce surprises and make pending requests easier to evaluate.
