# Reversible or irreversible: the action sorting sheet (free sample)

A free sample from Agents That Use a Computer by PaperChaseWebb. Works with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Grok or any agent that runs commands or drives a browser.

An agent that drafts a file can be wrong for free. An agent that pays, sends, starts a machine or deletes cannot take it back. Sort first.

## The five classes

| Class | Examples | Agent may |
|---|---|---|
| 0. Read | list files, check a price, read printer status | do alone |
| 1. Draft | scratch files, email drafts, a filled cart | do alone |
| 2. Local, reversible | edits under version control, a new branch | do alone, with a restore point |
| 3. External, reversible | post to a private test channel, upload to staging | only if your runbook lists it |
| 4. Irreversible | send, pay, buy, submit, publish, delete, start a machine, merge, release | never alone |

## Two rules

1. When unsure, it is class 4. The agent may not argue an action down a class.
2. Every class 4 request arrives with evidence: what was checked, what will happen, how to stop it.

## The prompt

"List every action you can take on [surface] with the access you have. Sort each into read, draft, local reversible, external reversible or irreversible. When unsure, mark irreversible and say why. Then list the irreversible ones I should require an approval for."

## In the full pack

A one-screen runbook template, a fail-closed guard layer with bypass tests, approval cards for one inbox, runbooks for printers, TVs, paid APIs, price watches and app releases, status signals for when an agent needs you, a pre-flight checklist, a rules block, two skills and 12 prompts.

License: personal and commercial use.