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What should you never give an AI agent permission to do?

A practical permissions checklist for keeping personal and business AI agents useful, reviewable and safe.

An agent should receive only the access required for its defined job. Convenience is not a reason to grant unrestricted account access, especially when actions are expensive, sensitive or difficult to reverse.

Keep high-impact actions behind approval

  • Payments, purchases and financial transfers.
  • Deleting records or changing permissions.
  • Sending sensitive or legally significant messages.
  • Medical, legal, employment or safety decisions.

Use least privilege

Prefer read-only access where possible. Separate accounts, limit the available tools and review access when the workflow changes. Record what the agent did so a person can inspect the result.

Test the exceptions

A safe workflow is tested with missing data, an incorrect request, an urgent request, an opt-out and a request outside the agent's role. The expected response should be a clear question or handoff.

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