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Approve Tool Calls

Tools set to Ask Each Time, and calls that match an Ask first rule, don't run until you approve them. For Instinct and Grok Bot, so do sessions for tools set to Require Session. Where you approve depends on where the agent runs.

Willow Agents: approve in the chat​

The chat shows a card with the tool and exactly what it will send.

  • Approve runs it once, with exactly what's shown.
  • Deny stops it.

Approvals are yours alone: only the person who started the chat can answer. Slack can't show an approval card, so in Slack these calls are blocked. To use them, chat with the agent on the web.

Instinct and Grok Bot: approve in Sprout​

Instinct and Grok ask you in two cases:

  • A tool that asks each time. The request is for that one call, with exactly the input shown.
  • A session. Tools set to Require Session only run in a session you approved. Approving one lets the assistant use them for the session length you chose for the agent.

Each request has a short link, like sprout.withwillow.ai/ok/k7m2qx. The assistant shows it to you in the chat, and Sprout also emails it to you and, if you turned them on, sends a notification. A count under Approvals in the sidebar shows how many are waiting.

  1. Open the link, signed in to Sprout. Or click Approvals, then the request under Waiting.
  2. Check Why it asks and, for a tool call, the Input.
  3. Click Approve and run for a tool call, or Approve session for a session. A tool call runs once, exactly as shown, as you.

To refuse it, click Deny.

Only you can approve: the link only opens the request when you're signed in to your Sprout account, and the assistant can't approve on its own. Once you approve, the assistant picks it up by itself, so you don't have to tell it.

A request lapses if nobody answers within 30 minutes. The assistant can ask again. Under Recent, each request shows how it ended: approved and ran, returned an error, denied, cancelled or lapsed.

Approve from your phone​

Sprout installs on your phone's Home Screen like an app, and its notifications reach you even while it's closed.

  1. On the Approvals page, find Approve from your phone. On a computer, scan the QR code with your phone's camera and sign in.
  2. Add Sprout to your Home Screen:
    • iPhone and iPad: in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. It needs iOS 16.4 or later.
    • Android: tap Install Sprout, or open the browser's menu and tap Install app or Add to Home screen.
  3. Open Sprout from your Home Screen, go to Approvals, and under Notifications tap Turn on in this browser.

On Android, the notification shows Approve and Deny right on it. On iPhone, tapping it opens the request, where you approve with one tap.

Get notified in your browser​

Under Notifications on the Approvals page, click Turn on in this browser. The browser shows a notification as soon as an agent asks, even while Sprout is closed. On Chrome and Edge it has Approve and Deny buttons; elsewhere, clicking it opens the request.

If Sprout says notifications are blocked, allow them for Sprout in the browser's site settings. Every request is also emailed to you, whether or not notifications are on.

Set up authenticator codes (optional)​

With an authenticator app on your phone, like Google Authenticator or 1Password, you can give the assistant a 6-digit code instead of opening the link. The code approves the request straight away. The link always works too, with or without codes.

  1. Click Approvals and find Authenticator codes. Click Set up an authenticator app.
  2. Open your authenticator app and add an account.
  3. Scan the QR code, or type the Key shown under it. The account appears as "Sprout".
  4. Enter the 6-digit code the app shows and click Turn on.

The setup works for 15 minutes, and the key isn't shown again. Sprout emails you once it's on.

Each code works once. After a few wrong codes, Sprout makes you wait before trying again.

To turn it off, click Turn off and enter a code. You keep approving from the link. Lost your phone? Turn it off from a device that still has the app, or leave us a message from the help menu.

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