nix-config/agents/permissions.md

Permissions Configuration

This document records the current permission requirements for AI agents operating in this repository.

Scope

Environment	Policy
Personal workstation	Restrictive - protect user's daily workflow
Homelab VMs	Permissive - agents have full autonomy

The permissions below apply to personal workstation only. For homelab VMs, almost everything is allowed except destructive operations on production systems.

Default Policy

Tool	Permission
* (all others)	ask

File Read Permissions

Pattern	Permission
* (all files)	allow
*.env	deny
*.env.*	deny
*.env.example	allow
*.pem	deny
*.key	deny
*kubeconfig*	deny
.ssh/**	deny
.aws/**	deny
.kube/**	deny
.gnupg/**	deny

Always Allowed Tools

These tools run without prompting:

• glob
• grep
• lsp
• question
• skill
• todowrite
• webfetch
• websearch
• codesearch
• edit (covers write and apply_patch)

Bash Command Permissions

Always Allowed (Read-only operations)

Git:

• git status, git diff, git log, git show, git branch, git remote

Kubernetes:

• kubectl get, kubectl describe, kubectl logs, kubectl top
• kubectl api-resources, kubectl api-versions
• kubectl config view, kubectl config get-contexts
• kubectl explain
• kubectl kustomize, kustomize build, kustomize version

Terraform:

• terraform plan, terraform show, terraform state list, terraform state show
• terraform output, terraform version, terraform providers, terraform fmt

GitHub CLI:

• gh repo view/list, gh issue view/list, gh pr view/list/diff/checks
• gh api, gh search, gh gist list/view
• gh release view/list, gh workflow list/view, gh run list/view
• gh status, gh auth status

Helm:

• helm list, helm get, helm show, helm search
• helm repo list, helm status, helm version, helm template

Google Cloud:

• gcloud * list, gcloud * describe, gcloud * get-iam-policy
• gcloud config list, gcloud auth list, gcloud version

Nix:

• nix eval, nix build, nix flake show, nix flake metadata
• nix flake check, nix flake lock
• nix profile list, nix profile history
• nix store verify, nix store ls, nix store path-info
• nix search, nix doctor, nix --version
• nixos-rebuild build, darwin-rebuild build
• nom build

Just:

• just --list, just --show, just --dry-run

Linters & Formatters:

• statix check, deadnix, nixfmt --check
• shellcheck, hadolint, actionlint
• ruff check, clippy, prettier --check
• tokei

System diagnostics:

• systemctl status, systemctl list-units, systemctl show
• journalctl -u, journalctl --since
• lspci, lsusb, lsblk, df, free, uptime, uname -a
• sensors, lsof

Git (extended):

• git tag, git blame, git reflog, git stash list
• git lfs status, git lfs ls-files

Development tools:

• go version, go env, go list, go doc, go vet
• cargo --version, cargo tree, cargo metadata
• python3 --version, python3 -m py_compile
• node --version, pnpm list, uv pip list

General utilities:

• rg, fd, cp, mv, chmod
• ls, cat, head, tail, wc, find, which
• echo, pwd, date, env, printenv
• file, stat, du, tree, bat, eza
• jq, yq, tldr
• mkdir, rmdir, grep

Requires Confirmation

Command	Permission
rm *	ask
rm -rf *	ask

Always Denied

Command	Permission
sudo *	deny

Homelab VM Permissions

For agents running in dedicated homelab VMs, permissions are significantly relaxed:

Category	Permission
bash	allow (most commands)
edit	allow
write	allow
task	allow
external_directory	allow
rm	allow

Still restricted in homelab VMs:

• Production cluster destructive operations (kubectl delete, helm uninstall)
• Infrastructure teardown (terraform destroy)
• Secret exposure in logs

Other Tool Permissions

Tool	Permission
edit	allow
task	ask
external_directory	ask
doom_loop	deny

Summary

• Default policy: All tools ask — only explicitly whitelisted tools auto-allow
• File operations: read, glob, grep, edit, write all allowed in workspace
• Nix operations: Build/eval/flake commands auto-allowed (writes to store only)
• Linting & formatting: All check commands auto-allowed
• System diagnostics: Read-only system info auto-allowed
• Sensitive files: Credentials, keys, and cloud configs are blocked
• Bash commands: Read-only ops auto-allowed; rm requires confirmation; sudo blocked
• Scope control: task and external_directory require approval