Claude Code Now Defaults to Auto Mode for Third-Party Providers and Telemetry-Off Sessions
Claude CodeAnthropic changed Claude Code so that interactive sessions running on a third-party provider, such as Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud's Agent Platform, or Microsoft Foundry, or sessions with telemetry turned off, now start in auto mode by default when no permission mode has been explicitly configured. Auto mode reviews and approves routine actions automatically instead of prompting for each one, and this change extends a default Anthropic has been rolling out over 2026 to sessions that previously fell outside it. The permissions.defaultMode setting still overrides this default for anyone who wants to keep the more closely supervised behavior.
Key Takeaways
- Auto mode is now the default almost everywhere, since 2.1.283 closes the last carve-out by extending the default to third-party-provider and telemetry-off sessions that previously kept the older, more supervised behavior.
- The change only applies when no permission mode is explicitly set, so anyone who has already configured
permissions.defaultModesees no change in behavior. - This continues a year-long rollout, moving from an opt-in for Bedrock/Vertex/Foundry teams to a server-side classifier default for direct API and Enterprise users, and now to this remaining set of sessions.
- Telemetry-off sessions are explicitly included, meaning privacy-conscious users who disable telemetry will now get auto mode by default too, not just enterprise cloud-provider users.
- Auto mode relies on a classifier reviewing actions against context, rather than removing review altogether, distinguishing it from fully unsupervised execution.
- Anthropic has cited internal data showing manual-mode approvals are often reflexive, which is part of the rationale for pushing auto mode further into the default path.
Sources & Mentions
2 external resources covering this update
A Default Flip for Sessions That Previously Kept the Old Behavior
Claude Code has been moving more of its user base onto auto mode by default throughout 2026, first as an opt-in on Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud's Agent Platform, and Microsoft Foundry, and later as the default for direct Anthropic API sessions. With 2.1.283, Anthropic closed the remaining gap: interactive sessions on those third-party providers, and any session with telemetry disabled, now also start in auto mode by default whenever no permission mode has been explicitly set. Previously, these session types kept the older, more closely supervised default even as other sessions moved to auto mode.
What This Means in Practice
Auto mode uses a classifier to review pending file edits, commands, and other actions against the conversation's context and approve routine ones automatically, rather than prompting the user before every action. For teams running Claude Code against Bedrock, Vertex, or Foundry, or for privacy-conscious users who disable telemetry, this default change means Claude Code will now behave more autonomously out of the box unless they explicitly set permissions.defaultMode to something else. Anyone who prefers the previous, more closely supervised default can restore it with that setting; it is unaffected by this change and continues to take precedence.