---
title: "overlane guard approvals answer"
description: "Approve or deny an action waiting for approval, as an independent agent or a person"
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.overlane.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# overlane guard approvals answer

{/* Generated by apps/docs/scripts/generate.mjs (CLI pages from the command registry in packages/cli). Do not edit; run `pnpm --filter @overlane/docs gen`. */}

Answers one approval. An independent second agent satisfies an approval (a different principal from the one that asked, listing the evidence it checked); a person can always answer too. Under manual autonomy the answer must come from a person. An approval covers exactly the action it describes; a changed action needs a new approval. An answered approval does not change.

## Usage

```sh
overlane guard approvals answer approval-id --decision approve|deny [--reason TEXT] [--evidence TEXT...] [--dry-run]
```

## Arguments

| Argument | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `approval-id` | yes | The approval to answer |

## Flags

| Flag | Type | Required | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `--decision` | one of `approve`, `deny` | yes |  | approve lets the action run; deny keeps it refused |
| `--reason` | string | no |  | Why; kept in the approval record |
| `--evidence` | string (repeatable) | no |  | What you checked; repeat for more (required for an agent approver) |
| `--dry-run` | boolean | no |  | Print the requests and file changes this command would make, then stop. Needs no credentials. |

## Examples

```sh
overlane guard approvals answer apr_1 --decision approve
overlane guard approvals answer apr_1 --decision approve --evidence "diff reviewed" --reason "matches the task" --dry-run
```

## Behavior

- Effect: `write` (changes local or hosted state).
- Needs credentials: yes. Uses the network: yes.
- Supports `--dry-run`: yes. Accepts `--force`: no.
- Machine-readable description: `overlane schema guard approvals answer`.

## Result

With `--json` (the default when stdout is not a terminal) the command prints this JSON Schema's shape on stdout.

```json
{
  "anyOf": [
    {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "tenantId": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1,
          "maxLength": 128,
          "pattern": "^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9_.:-]*$",
          "description": "tenant identifier"
        },
        "id": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1
        },
        "projectId": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1,
          "maxLength": 128,
          "pattern": "^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9_.:-]*$",
          "description": "project identifier"
        },
        "ruleId": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1
        },
        "tool": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1
        },
        "requestedBy": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1
        },
        "summary": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1
        },
        "diff": {
          "type": [
            "string",
            "null"
          ]
        },
        "status": {
          "type": "string",
          "enum": [
            "pending",
            "approved",
            "denied"
          ]
        },
        "actionDigest": {
          "type": "string",
          "pattern": "^sha256:[0-9a-f]{64}$"
        },
        "decidedBy": {
          "type": [
            "string",
            "null"
          ]
        },
        "approverKind": {
          "anyOf": [
            {
              "type": "string",
              "enum": [
                "user",
                "agent"
              ]
            },
            {
              "type": "null"
            }
          ]
        },
        "evidence": {
          "type": "array",
          "items": {
            "type": "string"
          }
        },
        "reason": {
          "type": [
            "string",
            "null"
          ]
        },
        "decidedAt": {
          "anyOf": [
            {
              "type": "string",
              "format": "date-time",
              "pattern": "^(?:(?:\\d\\d[2468][048]|\\d\\d[13579][26]|\\d\\d0[48]|[02468][048]00|[13579][26]00)-02-29|\\d{4}-(?:(?:0[13578]|1[02])-(?:0[1-9]|[12]\\d|3[01])|(?:0[469]|11)-(?:0[1-9]|[12]\\d|30)|(?:02)-(?:0[1-9]|1\\d|2[0-8])))T(?:(?:[01]\\d|2[0-3]):[0-5]\\d:[0-5]\\d(?:\\.\\d+)?(?:Z|([+-](?:[01]\\d|2[0-3]):[0-5]\\d)))$"
            },
            {
              "type": "null"
            }
          ]
        },
        "createdAt": {
          "type": "string",
          "format": "date-time",
          "pattern": "^(?:(?:\\d\\d[2468][048]|\\d\\d[13579][26]|\\d\\d0[48]|[02468][048]00|[13579][26]00)-02-29|\\d{4}-(?:(?:0[13578]|1[02])-(?:0[1-9]|[12]\\d|3[01])|(?:0[469]|11)-(?:0[1-9]|[12]\\d|30)|(?:02)-(?:0[1-9]|1\\d|2[0-8])))T(?:(?:[01]\\d|2[0-3]):[0-5]\\d:[0-5]\\d(?:\\.\\d+)?(?:Z|([+-](?:[01]\\d|2[0-3]):[0-5]\\d)))$"
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "tenantId",
        "id",
        "ruleId",
        "tool",
        "requestedBy",
        "summary",
        "diff",
        "status",
        "actionDigest",
        "decidedBy",
        "approverKind",
        "evidence",
        "reason",
        "decidedAt",
        "createdAt"
      ],
      "additionalProperties": false
    },
    {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "dryRun": {
          "type": "boolean",
          "const": true
        },
        "service": {
          "type": "string"
        },
        "requests": {
          "type": "array",
          "items": {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {
              "method": {
                "type": "string"
              },
              "path": {
                "type": "string"
              },
              "body": {},
              "note": {
                "type": "string"
              }
            },
            "required": [
              "method",
              "path"
            ],
            "additionalProperties": false
          }
        },
        "commands": {
          "type": "array",
          "items": {
            "type": "string"
          }
        },
        "writes": {
          "type": "array",
          "items": {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {
              "path": {
                "type": "string"
              },
              "action": {
                "type": "string",
                "enum": [
                  "write",
                  "append",
                  "delete"
                ]
              },
              "description": {
                "type": "string"
              }
            },
            "required": [
              "path",
              "action",
              "description"
            ],
            "additionalProperties": false
          }
        },
        "notes": {
          "type": "array",
          "items": {
            "type": "string"
          }
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "dryRun",
        "requests",
        "commands",
        "writes",
        "notes"
      ],
      "additionalProperties": false
    }
  ]
}
```

See [exit codes](/cli/#exit-codes) for the status the process returns.

Source: https://docs.overlane.app/cli/guard-approvals-answer/index.mdx