# Choose what Continual asks before doing

> Add, change, or remove the policies that decide which changes wait for a person's yes.

A policy holds or refuses a change, such as issuing an invoice. Policies are how you set two things
today: autonomy, what agents may do alone, and controls, the business rules that hold for anyone.
See [approvals](/docs/concepts/approvals) for how the model works and how a held change is decided.

Add a policy to have Continual ask before more changes, or remove one to let it act and report.
Every organization starts with **Agents ask before they commit or delete**. Under it, Continual
edits records freely. It asks before it deletes anything, or before a change the business is bound
by, such as issuing an invoice.

**Before you start:** to change the organization's policies, you need the organization's **Admin**
role. Policies in your own settings, **You**, are yours to change.

## Add a policy

<Steps>
  <Step title="Choose where it applies">
    Open **Settings**. Under **Continual**, choose **Organization** for
    everyone's work, or **You** for your own.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Start the policy">
    Under **Policies**, choose **Add policy**, and give it a **Name**.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Say what it governs">
    Enter the **Object** by its type, such as `finance.invoice`, or leave it
    empty for every kind of record. Then enter the **Operations** it governs by
    ID, such as `finance.invoices.issue`, or choose **Consequences**: **Edits**,
    **Deletes**, **Commits**, or **Says**. **Commits** are changes the business
    is bound by, such as issuing an invoice. **Says** is Continual posting in a
    thread.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Narrow it if you need to">
    Add a **When** filter to cover only some records, such as invoices over
    10,000.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Choose whom it applies to">
    Set **Applies to** to **Everyone**, **People**, or **Agents**.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Choose what happens">
    Set **Effect** to **Require approval** or **Deny**. For **Require
    approval**, enter an **Approver** permission by its key, such as
    `platform.approvals.approve`, which admins hold on the organization. It is
    checked on the record the change acts on. Anyone who already holds it there
    is not held. Leave it empty so the person Continual works for decides.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Save it">
    Choose **Create policy**, or press <Kbd>⌘</Kbd> <Kbd>↵</Kbd>. It applies to
    the next change it matches.
  </Step>
</Steps>

A policy only adds a requirement. It never lets anyone do more than their roles allow. Your own
policies add to the organization's.

## Some policies to try

| To                                              | Set                                                                                                     |
| ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Have Continual ask before every change to deals | **Object** `sales.deal`; **Consequences** Edits, Deletes, and Commits; **Applies to** Agents            |
| Hold large invoices for an admin                | **Object** `finance.invoice`; **When** Total over your limit; **Approver** `platform.approvals.approve` |
| Stop Continual from deleting anything           | **Consequences** Deletes; **Applies to** Agents; **Effect** Deny                                        |

Finance already holds invoices over 10,000 for an admin, with **Large invoices need an admin**.

## Change or remove a policy

Choose a policy's name under **Policies** to open its page, and edit its fields there. To remove
it, open the record's menu and choose **Delete**. Remove **Agents ask before they commit or
delete** to let Continual issue, post, and delete without asking.

## Next steps

<Cards>
  <Card
    title="Approve or decline a change"
    href="/docs/guides/approve-changes"
    icon="shield"
  >
    Decide what a policy holds.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Approvals" href="/docs/concepts/approvals" icon="book">
    How policies, approvers, and approvals fit together.
  </Card>
</Cards>