Modes and approvals
Manual, Hybrid and Autonomous: what your assistant may do on its own, what waits for your approval, where to approve, and how to roll back.
Reading is always safe. Changes are where you set the rules. Woodander has three modes, and you choose one per Tag Manager container and per Discover project.
The three modes #
| Mode | What your assistant can do |
|---|---|
| Manual | Reads freely. Every change is only a proposal that you apply or reject. This is the default. |
| Hybrid | Runs reversible changes itself. Anything public or destructive waits for your confirmation. |
| Autonomous | Runs reversible changes itself. Publishing may also run without you, under extra conditions. Deletes always wait for you. |
You, working in the Workspace, are never blocked by the mode. The mode only limits tokens and Woodander's own AI.
Google Tag Manager #
| Who asks | Reversible change (tag, trigger, variable, version) | Delete a tag | Publish a version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Token, Manual | proposal | proposal | proposal |
| Token, Hybrid | runs | you confirm | you confirm |
| Token, Autonomous | runs | you confirm | runs only if the token has publish:gtm and the daily cap is not used up, else you confirm |
Some rules that always hold:
- Changes go into a workspace named "Woodander". The live Default Workspace is never edited.
gtm_publish_versionandgtm_rollbackreturn a confirmation link (confirm_url) unless Autonomous mode,publish:gtmand the daily cap (3 publishes a day) all line up.- Before publishing, Woodander refuses a duplicate: a version that is already live, or one with duplicate Google tags or events.
- After an unconfirmed (Autonomous) publish, you get an email.
- The previous live version is recorded, so rollback means republishing it. Use
gtm_rollback, which has the same guard as publishing. - Every change is logged: who or what asked, the diff and the version id.
The mode lives per container, in SEO → Tag Manager. Changing Tag Manager needs a plan with the Tag Manager feature, and your Google connection must have allowed editing (and, for publishing, publish access).
Discover projects #
| Who asks | Reversible (draft edit, screenshot, lead status) | Public (Brief, review reply) |
|---|---|---|
| Token, Manual | proposal | proposal |
| Token, Hybrid | runs | you confirm |
| Token, Autonomous | runs | runs (Newsroom quota and daily limit still apply) |
The mode lives per project in Workspace → Discover → your project → AI changes. Manual is the default.
Page edits land in your draft, never straight on the live page. If you also send submit: true, the draft goes to Woodander editors, who approve it before the page changes.
Trusted owners #
If you are a trusted owner, some edits go live at once. You are trusted when you own the project through an accepted claim, the project is live, and in the last 90 days you had none of these: a declined submission, a hidden comment, or a moderation strike. Trusted edits cover the tagline, description, highlights, FAQ, links and screenshots, and only when automatic spam and safety checks pass. Anything flagged goes to editors instead.
New projects, name, category, website URL, publishing a new language and any other field are still reviewed. The AI changes page tells you whether changes go live right away or are reviewed first. Editors can revert a live edit.
Where to approve #
Open AI changes for the project, or the Tag Manager page under SEO. Waiting items are listed first, each with a before and after view of what would change. Choose Apply, Confirm or Reject.
When a tool answers 202, it gives you a confirm_url that opens that page on the right change.
Approval only works in the Workspace. A request that carries a token is refused there, so your assistant cannot approve its own work. When you approve, Woodander checks your permissions again, so a lapsed plan cannot apply an old proposal.
Audit log #
Every proposed, pending, executed, refused, approved, rejected and failed action is written to an audit log, along with changes to modes and settings. Check it when you wonder what your assistant did.
Which mode should you pick? #
We would start with Manual for a week. Read the proposals, and see whether you would have approved them. Move a project to Hybrid when the reversible edits look right. Autonomous publishing is for people who have watched it work and want the speed.
Next step #
Try a proposal flow in the recipes.