@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ export const POST = withRouteHandler((request: NextRequest) =>
        * where the gate lives. Inert while copilot tool permissions are disabled, which keeps
        * enabling the flag from silently leaving background lanes ungated.
        */
-      if (toolRequiresApprovalLane(toolName)) {
+      if (toolRequiresApprovalLane(toolName, params)) {
         logger.warn('Refusing an approval-gated tool on the in-band lane', {
           toolName,
           toolCallId,
 
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+import { resolveEmbeddedCliCommand, type V2OperationName } from 'sim/embed'
+import { AgentCliRequest } from '@/lib/mothership/generated/agent-cli'
+import {
+  CallIntegrationTool,
+  CancelWorkflowRun,
+  DeleteWorkspaceMcpServer,
+  DeployAsApi,
+  DeployAsChat,
+  DeployAsMcp,
+  PromoteToLive,
+  RunWorkflow,
+  TOOL_CATALOG,
+  type ToolCatalogEntry,
+} from '@/lib/mothership/generated/tool-catalog-v1'
+
+/**
+ * The catalog tool whose capability each v2 operation is. The worker retired these
+ * tools in favour of `sim_cli`, so a command that calls one of these operations answers
+ * to that tool's approval flag: one policy, whichever name the capability arrives under.
+ * The deploy tools gate undeploy as well, so both directions map to them; rollback runs
+ * the same use case as activating a version.
+ */
+const CATALOG_TOOL_BY_OPERATION: Partial<Record<V2OperationName, ToolCatalogEntry>> = {
+  activateWorkflowVersion: PromoteToLive,
+  rollbackWorkflow: PromoteToLive,
+  deployWorkflow: DeployAsApi,
+  undeployWorkflow: DeployAsApi,
+  replaceWorkflowChatDeployment: DeployAsChat,
+  deleteWorkflowChatDeployment: DeployAsChat,
+  deployWorkflowMcpTool: DeployAsMcp,
+  undeployWorkflowMcpTool: DeployAsMcp,
+  deleteWorkflowMcpServer: DeleteWorkspaceMcpServer,
+  executeWorkflow: RunWorkflow,
+  resumeWorkflow: RunWorkflow,
+  cancelWorkflowRun: CancelWorkflowRun,
+  executeTool: CallIntegrationTool,
+}
+
+/**
+ * Whether a `sim_cli` call must be held for the user's decision. Its argv is resolved by
+ * the CLI's own parser, so the answer is about the command that would run, and a `--yes`
+ * in that argv answers only the CLI's prompt, never this one. Argv the parser cannot
+ * follow is held; a malformed request is not, because `executeSimCli` refuses it.
+ */
+export function cliRequestRequiresApproval(request: unknown): boolean {
+  const parsed = AgentCliRequest.safeParse(request)
+  if (!parsed.success) return false
+  const { invocation } = parsed.data
+  if (invocation.kind === 'service') return TOOL_CATALOG[invocation.name]?.requiresApproval === true
+  if (invocation.kind !== 'cli') return false
+  const command = resolveEmbeddedCliCommand(invocation.argv)
+  if (command === undefined) return true
+  return (
+    command?.operations.some(
+      (operation) => CATALOG_TOOL_BY_OPERATION[operation]?.requiresApproval === true
+    ) === true
+  )
+}
+
+/**
+ * The tool name (`cli_workflows_deploy`) of the command a `sim_cli` call would run, as the
+ * CLI's parser resolves it. The row's own name is the worker's reading of the same argv;
+ * an always-allow saved under that name covers the call only when the two agree, so a
+ * row named for one command, or for no command at all, never carries another's consent.
+ */
+export function cliCommandToolName(request: unknown): string | undefined {
+  const parsed = AgentCliRequest.safeParse(request)
+  if (!parsed.success || parsed.data.invocation.kind !== 'cli') return undefined
+  const command = resolveEmbeddedCliCommand(parsed.data.invocation.argv)
+  return command ? `cli_${command.path.join('_').replace(/-/g, '_')}` : undefined
+}
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import {
   mothershipClientToolWaiterMockFns,
 } from '@sim/testing/mocks/mothership-client-tool-waiter.mock'
 import { sleep } from '@sim/utils/helpers'
-import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
 import { AsyncToolCallOwnershipError } from '@/lib/mothership/async-runs/errors'
 import { restoreStreamingContext } from '@/lib/mothership/request/context/restore'
 import { TraceCollector } from '@/lib/mothership/request/trace'
@@ -431,6 +431,79 @@ describe('sse-handlers tool lifecycle', () => {
     expect(event.payload.status).toBe('awaiting_approval')
   })
 
+  describe('sim_cli approval', () => {
+    const activate = ['workflows', 'activate', 'create', 'wf-1', '1', '--yes']
+
+    function cliFrame(toolCallId: string, toolName: string, argv: string[]): StreamEvent {
+      return {
+        type: MothershipStreamV1EventType.tool,
+        payload: {
+          toolCallId,
+          toolName,
+          execName: 'sim_cli',
+          arguments: { args: argv, request: { invocation: { kind: 'cli', argv } } },
+          executor: MothershipStreamV1ToolExecutor.sim,
+          mode: MothershipStreamV1ToolMode.async,
+          phase: MothershipStreamV1ToolPhase.call,
+        },
+      }
+    }
+
+    beforeEach(async () => {
+      const router = await vi.importActual<typeof import('@/lib/mothership/tool-executor/router')>(
+        '@/lib/mothership/tool-executor/router'
+      )
+      toolRequiresApproval.mockImplementation(router.toolRequiresApproval)
+      context.runId = 'run-1'
+      context.toolPermissions = {
+        enabled: true,
+        autoAllowed: new Set(),
+        autoAllowPermitted: true,
+      }
+    })
+
+    afterEach(() => {
+      toolRequiresApproval.mockReset()
+      toolRequiresApproval.mockReturnValue(false)
+    })
+
+    it('holds a command that performs a gated capability, though its argv says --yes', async () => {
+      const event = cliFrame('cli-activate', 'cli_workflows_activate_create', activate)
+
+      await prePersistClientExecutableToolCall(event, context, {})
+
+      expect(event.payload.status).toBe('awaiting_approval')
+      expect(upsertAsyncToolCall).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          toolName: 'cli_workflows_activate_create',
+          executableName: 'sim_cli',
+          permissionRequested: true,
+        })
+      )
+    })
+
+    it('lets always-allow cover only the command it was granted for', async () => {
+      context.toolPermissions.autoAllowed.add('cli_workflows_list')
+      context.toolPermissions.autoAllowed.add('sim_cli')
+      const held = cliFrame('cli-held', 'cli_workflows_activate_create', activate)
+      await prePersistClientExecutableToolCall(held, context, {})
+      expect(held.payload.status).toBe('awaiting_approval')
+
+      // A row named for an allowed command, or for none, does not carry its consent
+      // to the command the CLI would actually run.
+      for (const name of ['cli_workflows_list', 'sim_cli']) {
+        const mislabeled = cliFrame(`cli-${name}`, name, activate)
+        await prePersistClientExecutableToolCall(mislabeled, context, {})
+        expect(mislabeled.payload.status).toBe('awaiting_approval')
+      }
+
+      context.toolPermissions.autoAllowed.add('cli_workflows_activate_create')
+      const allowed = cliFrame('cli-allowed', 'cli_workflows_activate_create', activate)
+      await prePersistClientExecutableToolCall(allowed, context, {})
+      expect(allowed.payload.status).toBeUndefined()
+    })
+  })
+
   it('clears a Go-stamped approval frame when the gate is off', async () => {
     // Go stamps integration calls regardless of Sim's feature flag. Forwarding
     // that stamp with nothing gating behind it would draw a card whose buttons
 
@@ -330,7 +330,8 @@ export async function prePersistClientExecutableToolCall(
           context,
           options ?? {},
           frameRequestsApproval,
-          data.arguments
+          data.arguments,
+          data.execName
         )
   if (gated) {
     data.status = TOOL_AWAITING_APPROVAL_STATUS
@@ -1029,7 +1030,14 @@ async function dispatchToolExecution(
     isAssistantIntegrationTool(getToolMetadata(toolCall.execName ?? toolName))
   const gated = assistantAction
     ? frameRequestsApproval
-    : toolCallNeedsApproval(toolName, context, options, frameRequestsApproval, args)
+    : toolCallNeedsApproval(
+        toolName,
+        context,
+        options,
+        frameRequestsApproval,
+        args,
+        toolCall.execName
+      )
   if (gated || clientExecutable) await adoptRecordedToolDeadline(toolCall)
   if (gated) {
     registerPendingToolPromise(
 
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { createLogger } from '@sim/logger'
 import { TERMINAL_TOOL_NAME, type TerminalOperation } from '@sim/terminal-protocol'
 import { getErrorMessage } from '@sim/utils/errors'
+import { cliCommandToolName } from '@/lib/mothership/agent-cli/approval'
 import type { AsyncCompletionSignal } from '@/lib/mothership/async-runs/lifecycle'
 import { PERMISSION_WAIT_TIMEOUT_MS } from '@/lib/mothership/constants'
 import {
@@ -91,13 +92,19 @@ export function toolCallNeedsApproval(
    */
   frameRequestsApproval = false,
   /** The call's arguments, for a tool whose gate depends on what it is doing. */
-  args?: Record<string, unknown>
+  args?: Record<string, unknown>,
+  /**
+   * The tool that executes the call, when the frame names it apart from its display
+   * name: a `sim_cli` call is shown as the command it runs (`cli_workflows_deploy`),
+   * and always-allow is saved under that name.
+   */
+  executableName = toolName
 ): boolean {
   if (!context.toolPermissions.enabled) return false
   if (options.interactive === false) return false
 
   if (!frameRequestsApproval) {
-    if (!toolRequiresApproval(toolName)) return false
+    if (!toolRequiresApproval(executableName, args)) return false
     if (toolName === TERMINAL_TOOL_NAME && !terminalOperationNeedsApproval(args)) return false
     // A go-routed tool executes inside mothership and never reaches Sim's
     // dispatch, so there is nothing here to hold. Stamping the frame anyway
@@ -117,8 +124,9 @@ export function toolCallNeedsApproval(
    * leave every entry saved before the policy changed still silencing prompts.
    */
   if (!context.toolPermissions.autoAllowPermitted) return true
+  if (!context.toolPermissions.autoAllowed.has(toolApprovalKey(toolName))) return true
 
-  return !context.toolPermissions.autoAllowed.has(toolApprovalKey(toolName))
+  return executableName === 'sim_cli' && cliCommandToolName(args?.request) !== toolName
 }
 
 function skipOutput(toolName: string) {
 
@@ -132,4 +132,15 @@ describe('toolRequiresApprovalLane', () => {
     setEnvFlags({ isCopilotToolPermissionsEnabled: true })
     expect(toolRequiresApprovalLane('not_a_real_tool')).toBe(false)
   })
+
+  it.each([
+    [['workflows', 'activate', 'create', 'wf-1', '1', '--yes'], true],
+    [['workflows', 'rollback', 'wf-1', '--to-version', '1', '--yes'], true],
+    [['workflows', 'list'], false],
+  ])('answers sim_cli %j by the command it runs: %s', (argv, gated) => {
+    setEnvFlags({ isCopilotToolPermissionsEnabled: true })
+    expect(
+      toolRequiresApprovalLane('sim_cli', { request: { invocation: { kind: 'cli', argv } } })
+    ).toBe(gated)
+  })
 })
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { BROWSER_TOOL_OBSERVES_ONLY, isBrowserToolName } from '@sim/browser-protocol'
 import { isCopilotToolPermissionsEnabled } from '@/lib/core/config/env-flags'
+import { cliRequestRequiresApproval } from '@/lib/mothership/agent-cli/approval'
 import { TOOL_CATALOG, type ToolCatalogEntry } from '@/lib/mothership/generated/tool-catalog-v1'
 
 export function isToolInCatalog(toolId: string): boolean {
@@ -30,9 +31,11 @@ export function isKnownTool(toolId: string): boolean {
  * only observing it. One that acts does so as the user, in a browser signed in
  * to their accounts, so it is gated like a terminal command. Reading the split
  * from `BROWSER_TOOL_OBSERVES_ONLY` gates a browser tool added later by default.
+ * `sim_cli` has no entry: each call answers for the command its arguments would run.
  */
-export function toolRequiresApproval(toolId: string): boolean {
+export function toolRequiresApproval(toolId: string, args?: Record<string, unknown>): boolean {
   if (isBrowserToolName(toolId)) return !BROWSER_TOOL_OBSERVES_ONLY[toolId]
+  if (toolId === 'sim_cli') return cliRequestRequiresApproval(args?.request)
   return getToolEntry(toolId)?.requiresApproval === true
 }
 
@@ -46,8 +49,8 @@ export function toolRequiresApproval(toolId: string): boolean {
  * must never hang on a prompt with no row behind it.
  *
  * Lives here rather than beside the dispatch gate so that asking the question
- * costs only the catalog. The gate module reaches the permission persistence
- * layer, which opens a pub/sub channel when it loads.
+ * costs only the catalog and the CLI's parser. The gate module reaches the
+ * permission persistence layer, which opens a pub/sub channel when it loads.
  *
  * Deliberately blind to the stored auto-allow list. Consulting it here would add
  * a database read to every in-band call to reach the same place by a longer
@@ -56,6 +59,6 @@ export function toolRequiresApproval(toolId: string): boolean {
  * leaves the one implementation of "has the user allowed this" on the lane that
  * already owns it.
  */
-export function toolRequiresApprovalLane(toolId: string): boolean {
-  return isCopilotToolPermissionsEnabled && toolRequiresApproval(toolId)
+export function toolRequiresApprovalLane(toolId: string, args?: Record<string, unknown>): boolean {
+  return isCopilotToolPermissionsEnabled && toolRequiresApproval(toolId, args)
 }
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { sleep } from '@sim/utils/helpers'
 import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
-import { runEmbeddedCli } from './embed'
+import { resolveEmbeddedCliCommand, runEmbeddedCli } from './embed'
 
 const IDENTITY = {
   endpoint: 'https://sim.internal.test',
@@ -189,3 +189,44 @@ describe('embedded request defaults', () => {
     )
   })
 })
+
+describe('resolveEmbeddedCliCommand', () => {
+  it('names the command argv would run and what it may call, however it is spelled', () => {
+    expect(
+      resolveEmbeddedCliCommand([
+        '-w',
+        'ws-1',
+        'workflows',
+        'activate',
+        'create',
+        'wf-1',
+        '1',
+        '--yes',
+      ])
+    ).toEqual({
+      path: ['workflows', 'activate', 'create'],
+      operations: ['activateWorkflowVersion'],
+    })
+    expect(resolveEmbeddedCliCommand(['workflows', '-P', 'default', 'undeploy', 'wf-1'])).toEqual({
+      path: ['workflows', 'undeploy'],
+      operations: ['undeployWorkflow'],
+    })
+    expect(resolveEmbeddedCliCommand(['kb', 'list'])).toEqual({
+      path: ['knowledge', 'list'],
+      operations: ['listKnowledgeBases'],
+    })
+  })
+
+  it.each([
+    [['--help']],
+    [['workflows', 'no-such-command']],
+    [['workflows', 'activate', 'create']],
+    [['workflows', 'activate', 'create', 'wf-1', '1', '--dry-run']],
+    [['workflows', 'run', 'wf-1', '--help']],
+  ])('reports no command for %j, and running it calls nothing', async (argv) => {
+    expect(resolveEmbeddedCliCommand(argv)).toBeNull()
+    const transport = vi.fn(async () => jsonResponse({ data: {} }))
+    await runEmbeddedCli(argv, { ...IDENTITY, transport })
+    expect(transport).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+})