YOLO Mode

YOLO mode controls how much autonomy agents have during workflow execution. When enabled, agents work without asking for validation at each step — like a senior team that you trust to get things done.

Three levels of autonomy

Level Activation Stops for Best for
YOLO yolo: true in .assemble.yaml Production actions, missing info, external effects Daily development
Hardcore /yolo-hardcore command Production only Trusted environments, fast iteration
Full /yolo-full command Nothing Maximum speed, accepts all risk

Level 1 — YOLO (standard)

The default autonomous mode. Agents execute without intermediate validation but pause when:

  • An action would affect production (deploy, database migration, etc.)
  • Required information is missing and can’t be inferred
  • An action has external side effects (sending emails, API calls, etc.)

Configuration

yolo: true

What changes

Without YOLO With YOLO
Jarvis asks permission at each step Jarvis executes the full workflow
Each deliverable requires validation Deliverables are produced continuously
User controls the pace Agents work at maximum speed
More oversight More speed

Level 2 — Hardcore

Escalation beyond standard YOLO. Agents work with near-full autonomy:

  • Stop only for production-impacting actions
  • Infer information that can reasonably be deduced from context
  • Skip intermediate validations entirely

Activation

/yolo-hardcore

This is a runtime command — not configurable in .assemble.yaml. Only a human can activate it, never an agent.

What changes

  • Agents interpret ambiguous requirements instead of asking
  • Decisions are made autonomously based on best practices
  • Only truly irreversible production actions trigger a pause

Level 3 — Full

Maximum autonomy. Agents stop for nothing. Full trust, full speed, maximum risk.

Activation

/yolo-full

This is also runtime-only and human-activated only.

When to use it

  • Prototyping where speed matters more than perfection
  • Sandbox environments with no production risk
  • When you want to see what the team produces without any guardrails

Safety constraints

Regardless of YOLO level, these rules are non-negotiable:

  1. Hardcore and Full can only be activated by typing the command directly — no agent can activate them for you
  2. Agents must still follow their anti-patterns — YOLO doesn’t override quality rules
  3. The manifest is always updated — you can review what happened after the fact
  4. Deliverables are always produced in assemble-output/ — nothing is lost

Combining with governance

YOLO mode and governance are complementary:

Governance YOLO off YOLO on
none Manual validation at each step Full autonomous execution
standard Decision gates at phase transitions Autonomous within phases, gates between
strict Full audit trail + gates Autonomous within phases, strict gates + audit

With governance: strict + yolo: true, agents work autonomously within each phase but must still pass through formal decision gates between phases.

Recommended configurations

Solo developer / prototyping

yolo: true

governance: none

Small team / startup

yolo: true

governance: standard

Enterprise / regulated

yolo: false

governance: strict