The trust model
Gaia Autopilot is autonomous. Autonomy without guardrails is reckless, so every agent action is bounded by a risk tier. The tier governs whether an action runs, whether it pauses for approval, whether it can be undone, and how often it’s allowed to run. The default for outbound work is draft-and-approve. Nothing goes to a customer without a human reviewing it. Agents earn higher autonomy by demonstrating, in the action log, that their drafts are consistently approved as written.The three tiers
You’ll rarely choose tiers manually. Each tool has a default tier. Each playbook can constrain tiers further but never relax them.
Graduation
Tiers aren’t immutable. A playbook can graduate fromdraft_and_approve to auto_with_undo (and rarely to auto) when:
- It has a long enough history of drafts being approved as written
- The recipient class is internal or trusted (org employees, internal channels)
- The org explicitly opts in
Graduation is opt-in. Gainable never silently changes a risk tier. The recommendation appears in Autopilot. The org decides whether to act on it.
Undo windows
auto_with_undo actions are reversible. The undo window varies by tool:
The undo window is enforced by the runtime. Once the window closes, the action is permanent.
Rate limits
Every playbook has rate limits. The defaults are conservative; the org can tighten or loosen them.
Rate limits are checked before the tool runs. A blocked call writes to the action log with a
rate_limited outcome.
Per-user caps
Personal-scope playbooks (see scopes) inherit per-user caps. Two examples:- A user with 50 deals can’t generate 50 outbound drafts in a day from a single playbook unless the cap is raised.
- A user can’t run a
call_externaltool more than 10 times an hour, even on-demand.
How a draft becomes an action
The lifecycle of a draft-and-approve outbound:1
Trigger fires
Schedule, data change, webhook, or user click.
2
Playbook runs
Steps execute. The final outbound step is wrapped in
draft_for_approval.3
Draft lands in Autopilot
The configured owner sees it in their inbox. The action log records the draft creation.
4
Owner reviews
Approve, edit, skip, or unsubscribe future drafts in this class.
5
On approval, the underlying tool runs
send_email, send_slack, etc. Action log records the execution.6
On skip, nothing runs
The action log records the skip with the reason if provided.
How auto-with-undo runs
The lifecycle of an auto-with-undo action:1
Trigger fires
Same as above.
2
Tool runs immediately
The action takes effect.
3
Notification surfaces in Autopilot
The user sees what happened with an “Undo” button.
4
Undo window opens
Configurable per tool. 5 minutes for messaging, 24 hours for record updates.
5
If undone, the runtime reverses
Records restored, messages deleted, notifications removed.
6
Window closes, action is permanent
No further reversal. The action log shows the final outcome.
Configuring tiers
Risk tiers are part of the playbook guardrails:Best practices
Earn graduation, don't claim it
Earn graduation, don't claim it
Don’t graduate a playbook to
auto_with_undo because it would be more convenient. Graduate it because the action log shows users approve drafts unchanged at least 90% of the time.Tighten before you loosen
Tighten before you loosen
When a playbook is producing too many drafts, tighten the trigger filter or rate limit before relaxing the risk tier.
Customer-facing stays draft-and-approve
Customer-facing stays draft-and-approve
Internal Slack? Graduation candidate. External customer email? Stay in draft-and-approve unless you have an explicit, opted-in customer commitment to automated communication.
Watch the rate-limited counter
Watch the rate-limited counter
A spike in
rate_limited outcomes in the action log means the playbook is firing more often than expected. Investigate before raising the limit.Learn more
Tools
Default risk tier per tool
Playbooks
Where tiers are configured
Inbox
Where drafts and undo surfaces live
Agent action log
The audit trail behind tier decisions