Autonomy levels
Cate uses two labels to control agent behavior and make issues visible to the dispatch queue.
The two labels
Section titled “The two labels”cate — agent handles it end-to-end
Section titled “cate — agent handles it end-to-end”The default label applied to all issues created by Cate commands (Build, Collaborate). Agents work end-to-end without waiting for human approval at intermediate steps. Your only required action is merging the final PR to main.
Epic subtask behavior: When the review agent finishes reviewing a sub-issue PR that targets an epic branch, it squash-merges the PR automatically and closes the sub-issue.
Use for: most work — dependency bumps, bug fixes, well-specified features, documentation updates, routine refactoring.
cate:supervised — human approves epic branch merges
Section titled “cate:supervised — human approves epic branch merges”Identical to cate for dispatch, planning, and implementation. The only difference is at review time for epic subtask PRs.
Epic subtask behavior: When the review agent finishes reviewing a sub-issue PR that targets an epic branch, it posts a comment asking you to merge the PR rather than merging automatically. The sub-issue moves to Human Review and waits for you.
Use for: security-critical changes (auth, encryption, access control), high-risk architectural changes where mistakes are expensive, any sub-issue where you want to make the final merge decision.
Behavior matrix
Section titled “Behavior matrix”| Gate | cate | cate:supervised |
|---|---|---|
| Dispatch | Proceeds | Proceeds |
| Plan posting | Posts for the record | Posts for the record |
| Implementation | Proceeds | Proceeds |
| Guardrails | Always runs | Always runs |
| PR creation | Proceeds | Proceeds |
| Epic branch merge | Agent merges | Agent posts comment, you merge |
| Main branch merge | You merge | You merge |
| Handoff comments | Always posts | Always posts |
Guardrails run, handoff comments are posted, and you merge the PR to main — regardless of label.
Visibility gate
Section titled “Visibility gate”An issue without a cate or cate:supervised label is invisible to Cate’s dispatch queue. The app does not pick it up. This means:
- Issues created by Cate commands always get one of these labels automatically
- Issues you create manually on the board need a label applied to be picked up by agents
- Removing a label effectively pauses agent work on that issue
Setting labels
Section titled “Setting labels”Via the Build command
Section titled “Via the Build command”The Build command asks whether Cate agents should handle the work or a human will. When agents handle it, the cate label is applied automatically. You can also request cate:supervised during the session.
On an existing issue
Section titled “On an existing issue”Apply the label through your issue tracker’s UI (GitHub Labels or Jira labels), or ask the agent in a Build session.
Via the GitHub or Jira UI
Section titled “Via the GitHub or Jira UI”Open the issue, add the cate or cate:supervised label. These labels are created automatically during setup.