# Chat approvals, questions, goals, and recovery
Respond to the assistant’s requests for decisions, connect an agent account, manage goals, and recover interrupted work.
Source: https://docs.rumata.dev/guides/controls-chat-decisions
Reviewed: 2026-09-06
## Before you start
- Open the named screen in Rumata. Available controls may depend on your account, permissions, and resource state.
## Permission and plan decisions
Read the requested operation and any listed paths or patterns before choosing a permission response.
| Control | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| Allow Once | Approve this permission request for the current action. |
| Allow Always | Approve the runtime’s remembered permission rule for the displayed request pattern. |
| Deny | Reject the requested operation. The assistant may need another approach. |
| Looks good, continue | Approve the displayed plan and start the next stage of work. |
| I’d like changes | Request a revision. Tell the assistant what should change before implementation proceeds. |
## Answer a question
The assistant can present choices, text fields, or a dedicated credential field. Selecting or typing an answer does not send it until you submit.
| Control | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| Choice buttons | Pick one option, or several when the question permits multiple choices. |
| Custom answer / labeled fields | Provide your own answer or complete the requested fields. |
| Masked secret field | Enter a credential only in the designated secret control. Submission stores it as a project secret and supplies a reference to the assistant. |
| Send Answer | Submit answers for the displayed questions and let the assistant continue. Each question needs an answer. |
| Reject | Reject the pending question without submitting the drafted answer. |
## Recover interrupted work
Resume an interrupted response after the development machine reconnects.
| Control | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| Continue from the last step | Send a continuation request after an interrupted response, once the [development machine](https://docs.rumata.dev/guides/development#machine) reconnects. The button changes to [Continuation sent](https://docs.rumata.dev/guides/controls-chat-decisions#authentication) after success. |
| Technical details | Expand the recovery error to diagnose the interruption. |
## Goal controls
When the runtime provides a goal, the goal panel tracks its objective and any usage budget as work continues.
| Control | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| Expand / Collapse goal details | Read the full objective, tokens used, elapsed time, and budget progress when a budget exists. |
| Pause goal | Change an active goal to paused. |
| Block goal | Mark an active goal blocked because it cannot currently progress. |
| Resume goal | Reactivate a paused or blocked goal. |
| Clear goal | Remove the tracked goal. This is a direct action without a second confirmation in the panel. |
| Usage limited / Budget reached / Complete | Read why the goal is no longer active. These states do not show the same Resume button as a paused or blocked goal. |
## Context and compaction
Context is the information the model is currently using. Tokens are the units used to measure that information.
| Control | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| Context usage percentage | Open session details including model, context limit, token breakdown, message counts, and the stored transcript. |
| Expand / Collapse compaction details | Read why Rumata suggests shortening the active context in a long conversation. |
| Compact now | Send the runtime’s compact command to summarize the working context. |
| Dismiss compaction suggestion | Hide the suggestion for that session while the current view remains open. |
## Related guides
- [Chat, sessions, models, and file controls](https://docs.rumata.dev/guides/controls-chat)
- [Troubleshoot with a clear next step](https://docs.rumata.dev/guides/troubleshooting)
- [Keys & secrets](https://docs.rumata.dev/guides/system-explorer-secrets)