Permission modes
The three modes a chat can run in, what each allows, and why Full access is deliberately awkward to turn on.
Every chat runs in one of three modes, chosen from the control above the message box. The mode decides whether the assistant can change your map, and whether it asks first.
The three modes
| Mode | The assistant can read | The assistant can change your map |
|---|---|---|
| Read only | Yes | No — the tools that write are not offered at all |
| Ask before edits | Yes | Only what you approve, one change at a time |
| Full access | Yes | Yes, without asking |
Ask before edits is the default, and it is the right setting for almost everything.
Read only
The write tools are not merely disabled — they are not given to the model, so it cannot attempt an edit and be refused. Useful when you want analysis of a map you would rather not risk, or when someone else is mid-edit.
Ask before edits
The assistant can propose changes, and each proposal waits for you. You see what it wants to do in plain language before anything is written, and you can approve it, or reject it with a note about what to do differently.
This is the mode the approval flow is built for. Approving map changes covers what the review looks like.
Full access
Full access removes the approval step. The assistant applies map and project changes as it decides on them. One action keeps asking regardless: starting a paid Metaculus AI forecast or operationalization always asks first, even here — see Starting an AI forecast or operationalization.
What Radiant tells you when you enable it
Radiant will apply canvas and project changes without asking for each edit. Changes may be difficult to undo, and repeated execution can duplicate some imports. Only enable this when you trust the chat instructions and canvas content.
Two constraints make it less dangerous than it sounds:
- One acknowledgement per chat. You confirm a warning dialog before it turns on.
- This tab, this chat. The setting is stored per browser tab and does not follow you to another chat, another tab, or another device. Safe modes are remembered normally.
And one that does not change:
- It is not extra authorization. Full access removes the asking, not the permission check. If you cannot edit a project, neither can the assistant acting for you.
The real cost is prompt-injection containment
Per-call approval is the last human check between untrusted content — a map imported from elsewhere, a web page the assistant read — and a write to your project. Full access removes that check by design. It is a reasonable trade on a map you built yourself, and a poor one on a map you did not.
Changing mode
The mode can only be changed while the chat is idle. Changing it applies from your next message; it does not retroactively affect a change already proposed or applied.