Permit the Writes: A Weekend Outbox for Agent Side Projects

Description and use

Implemented a permit file and outbox to control agent writes, ensuring only one approved write is flushed and eliminating flaky test failures.

Problem

Agent demos often fail when the model mutates the working tree during exploration, causing unintended writes and test failures.

Outcome

The demo now produces a single, explicit write that a test can verify, eliminating flaky failures caused by unintended file mutations.

Workflow

• Load a static allowlist of write paths from permits.json
• Intercept attempted writes and append them to outbox.jsonl instead of touching the tree
• Flush one approved record to the write root via a command that a test can run twice

Evidence

Catch attempted writes and append them to outbox.jsonl instead of touching the tree.

Source

Flush one approved record through a command that a test can run twice.

Source