Editorial status: Source-researched draft. Confirm current product controls and commercial terms in the linked official documentation before publication.
Quick answer
Cline exposes separate approval categories for project files, files outside the workspace, terminal commands, browser use, and MCP. YOLO mode removes those confirmation boundaries and should not be a normal workstation default.
A sensible starting point
- Limit access to project files
- review every command that installs, deletes, or publishes
- use checkpoints and Git as recovery layers, not as substitutes for isolation.
The safest first task is small, reversible, and contained in a clean Git branch or disposable repository. Do not begin with production credentials, customer data, deployment access, or a repository containing unrelated secrets.
Security questions to answer
Before adoption, verify what the agent can read, which commands it can execute, whether outbound network access is restricted, how credentials reach tools, and which actions require approval. Check whether local, editor, command-line, and cloud modes use different security boundaries.
Also identify the recovery path. Git helps recover file changes, but it does not reverse a leaked credential, a message sent to a third party, a deployment, or a purchase. Those external actions should remain separately permissioned and auditable.
How to evaluate it fairly
Use the same representative task for every candidate. Record setup time, completion quality, manual corrections, test results, network destinations, requested permissions, and total model or platform usage. Avoid declaring a winner from vendor demos or a single benchmark.
Bottom line
Choose the smallest permission set that completes the real workflow. Expand access only after a denied action demonstrates a legitimate need, then document the exception so other users do not have to guess.