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sureops operates in one of two modes on every active incident: Self-Driving (the AI drives end-to-end) or Supervised (you control the pace). The mode is a per-incident setting — you can switch between them mid-incident without losing any work.

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The two modes at a glance

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Self-Driving mode

In Self-Driving mode, the AI drives the incident through its full lifecycle without waiting for stage-by-stage approval:
The agent only pauses when an action requires human judgment before it executes. After approval, it continues immediately.

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What you see in Self-Driving mode

  • A live timeline as the AI moves through stages
  • A notification (Slack, email, or in-app) whenever an approval gate opens
  • Full agent reasoning and confidence scores in the incident detail view
  • A one-click “Take Control” button that’s always available

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Auto-approve configuration

For teams that want fully autonomous operation on lower-severity incidents, Self-Driving mode supports optional auto-approve policies. These let specific action types execute without a human approval step.
Auto-approve settings only take effect for P3 and P4 severity incidents. P1 and P2 incidents always require human approval, regardless of auto-approve configuration. This is a hard safety constraint, not a configurable option.
Two auto-approve knobs are available: autonomous_execution (recommended) — Auto-executes recommendations when every proposed action is at or below a risk ceiling you set: High-risk and destructive actions (rollbacks, config changes, scaling operations classified high-risk) always gate on human approval regardless of the ceiling. auto_approve_hitl — The most permissive option. Auto-approves every recommendation regardless of risk level. Intended for fully autonomous low-stakes environments where speed matters most. To configure, go to Settings → Environment → AI Behavior → Autonomous execution.

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Supervised mode

In Supervised mode, you hold the wheel. The AI is available as a collaborator at each stage, but it only moves when you say so.

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What you can do in Supervised mode

Approve & Continue

Run the next stage, then pause again when it completes.

Re-run Stage

Re-execute the current stage with additional context you provide.

Stage Chat

Ask the stage’s agent questions. It can query your observability tools in real time and reply with data.

Navigate

Jump forward to skip a stage, or roll back to revisit a previous one. Requires a reason.

Mark Complete

Mark the stage as done with notes — for when you’ve handled it yourself without agent involvement.

Release to Self-Driving

Hand control back to the AI. All context you’ve provided (notes, chat, re-run results) carries forward into the next agent run.

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Auto-release timer

When you take control, a countdown timer starts (default: 60 minutes). This prevents incidents from being indefinitely parked in Supervised mode with no owner.
  • Extend in 15-minute increments (up to 60 minutes per extension) using the +15 min button
  • A warning appears 5 minutes before expiry
  • On expiry, control reverts to Self-Driving and you receive a notification

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Taking control mid-incident

You can take control at any time — even while an agent is actively running. sureops uses cooperative cancellation: the agent finishes its current operation (an LLM call, a tool query) and then pauses. It never kills in-flight work. What to expect when you take control:
1

Click 'Take Control'

The UI immediately shows a “handing over…” state. The agent flag is set.
2

Agent completes current operation

If an LLM call is in-flight, the UI shows “completing current operation.” This typically takes 5–30 seconds. The partial findings are preserved.
3

Control transfers

You see “You have control.” All agent findings to this point are visible and usable. The Stage Control panel appears.
Any work the agent completed before the handoff is fully preserved — you never lose analysis, findings, or tool results by taking control.

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Configuring the default mode

The default mode is configured at multiple levels. More specific settings override less specific ones.

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Org-level default

Settings → Organization → AI Behavior → Default mode Sets the baseline for all new incidents. All environments inherit this unless overridden.

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Per-environment override

Settings → Environment → [environment] → AI Behavior → Mode Useful when you want strict supervision in production but full autonomy in staging.

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Per-severity override

Settings → Environment → [environment] → AI Behavior → Per-severity modes

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Per-incident override

The Agent posture control on the incident detail page overrides the environment default for that specific incident. The override is visible in the incident header and recorded in the audit trail.

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Comparison table

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Trust progression

sureops is designed for deliberate trust calibration, not automatic escalation. Moving from Supervised to Self-Driving is always an explicit operator decision — the system never promotes itself to more autonomy. A common progression:
  1. Week 1–2: All incidents run Supervised. Review agent reasoning, correct misclassifications.
  2. Week 3–4: Switch P4/P3 incidents to Self-Driving. Monitor audit logs.
  3. Month 2+: Enable autonomous_execution for low-risk actions on P3/P4. Expand risk ceiling only after validating behavior.
  4. Ongoing: P1/P2 incidents remain Supervised by default for most teams.
The audit trail and incident timeline give you the data to make these decisions — see Confidence & Audit Trace for how to read them.