Tool allowlists & least privilege

A worker’s tool allowlist is the exact set of capabilities it may use at runtime — and the safe default is to grant only what the job needs.

What you’ll learn

• What a tool is, and what the allowlist controls.
• The principle of least privilege, applied to workers.
• How to see and edit a worker’s tools.

The allowlist

A tool is a capability a worker can invoke — web search, reading or writing files, running the shell, generating images, and so on. The allowlist is the precise set it’s permitted to use. An empty allowlist means the worker is text-only.

On a worker’s profile, 🛠 Tools & capabilities shows every tool it may invoke, with a coverage bar (e.g. “7/20 tools enabled”). ✎ Edit tools jumps to the editor where you turn them on or off.

Least privilege

Don’t give every worker everything. Grant each worker only the tools its role actually requires:

• A writer needs web and files — but never holds the shell.
• A coder or ops worker might hold the shell, but a marketer or researcher has no reason to.

Capability is granted, not assumed

The shell, file writes, and similar powerful tools should be deliberate choices. Keeping a worker’s allowlist tight means a stray instruction can’t reach a capability it was never meant to have.

Coverage bar as a sanity check

Glance at the coverage bar on a worker’s profile. If a copywriter is holding most of the toolset, that’s a sign to trim it back to what the role needs.

Recap

The allowlist is each worker’s exact set of permitted tools; least privilege means granting only what the role needs, so a writer never holds the shell. Next, meet the workforce’s most unusual residents.

➡️ Next: The Elite tier