# Control what connected apps can do

*Choose Full access, Read-only or Off for AI agents and the Chrome extension, set what AI apps can do in a team library, and manage the tokens they use.*

Online version: https://promptmason.ai/docs/agent-access

Connected apps are other apps on this PC that use your PromptMason library: AI agents such as Claude Desktop, Cursor and Claude Code, and the PromptMason Chrome extension. You decide what they may do in **Settings → AI & connected apps**. PromptMason's own window always has full access.

## Choose what connected apps can do

1. Click **Settings** in the sidebar, then **AI & connected apps**.
2. In the **Connected apps** card, find **What connected apps can do**.

    ![The What connected apps can do row with three choices: Full access (selected), Read-only and Off.](https://promptmason.ai/images/docs/agent-access-what-connected-apps-can-do.webp)

3. Choose one of the options:

| Option | What PromptMason says |
|---|---|
| **Full access** | "Search, read, create, edit, and delete your blocks and prompts." This is the default. |
| **Read-only** | "Search and read only. They can't change anything or export your whole library." |
| **Off** | "Connected apps can't reach your library." |

PromptMason saves your choice straight away. If it can't, it shows a message under the options, for example "Could not save the setting." Choose the option again.

The library tools in Chat follow this setting too: with **Off**, Chat can't use your library, and with **Read-only** it can read but not change it. With **Full access**, Chat asks you before each change (see [Approve or refuse a change](https://promptmason.ai/docs/chat-basics#approve-or-refuse-a-change)). This doesn't change how AI agents work.

### Restart any open AI agent

An AI agent learns which PromptMason tools it has when it starts. If an agent is open when you change this setting, close it completely and open it again. PromptMason shows the same reminder: "If an AI agent is open when you change this, restart it to update what it can do."

### How each option affects AI agents

- **Full access:** the agent can search and read everything; create, change and delete blocks, prompts, folders, variables and comments; archive blocks and prompts and take them out of the archive; add and delete expected output; and add or remove tags. See [MCP tools: what an AI agent can do](https://promptmason.ai/docs/agent-tools).
- **Read-only:** an agent started while this is set can only search and read. If an agent that was started under **Full access** tries a change, PromptMason refuses it with "PromptMason is read-only for connected apps. To allow changes, choose Full access in PromptMason under Settings → AI & connected apps."
- **Off:** an agent started while this is set has no PromptMason tools at all. One that was already running gets "PromptMason is turned off for connected apps. Turn it on in PromptMason under Settings → AI & connected apps." The **Add** and **Copy command** buttons under **Connect an AI agent** are turned off.

### How each option affects the Chrome extension

- **Full access:** you can browse, preview and copy, and also add favorites and ratings from the popup.
- **Read-only:** you can browse, preview and copy. Changing a favorite or a rating shows "The desktop app is in read-only mode, so this can't be changed from the browser. To allow changes, choose Full access in the desktop app under Settings → AI & connected apps." Values you type into **Fill in your values** are still remembered.
- **Off:** the popup shows "PromptMason is turned off for connected apps. Turn it on in the desktop app under Settings → AI & connected apps to see your blocks and prompts here."

The extension doesn't need restarting: it checks each time you open the popup. See [The Chrome extension](https://promptmason.ai/docs/chrome-extension).

## Set what AI apps can do in a team library

Each team library has its own setting for AI apps (AI agents and Chat). Only the library's primary owner can change it, and it applies on every member's PC.

1. Click **Settings** in the sidebar, then **Libraries & sharing**.
2. Under **Libraries**, click **Manage** next to the team library.
3. Under **Name and AI apps**, open **What AI apps can do in [library name]** and choose:
   - **Read only (recommended)**: AI agents can search and read it. This is the default for a team library.
   - **Read and change**: AI agents can also add and change items in it.
   - **Nothing: AI apps can’t see it**: AI agents don't see the library at all.
4. To limit how much an AI agent can change, type a number in **Most changes an AI app can make per hour** and click **Save**. The default is 1,000.

    ![The Name and AI apps part of a team library's Manage window, with three choices for what AI apps can do and an hourly limit.](https://promptmason.ai/images/docs/agent-access-team-library-ai-apps-setting.webp)

The note under these controls says: "This applies on every member’s PC. Each person’s Connected apps setting still applies too; the stricter one wins." For example, if the library allows **Read and change** but your own setting is **Read-only**, your AI agent can only read it.

Other members see the current setting as a line such as "AI apps: read only, up to 1,000 changes an hour. Only the primary owner changes this."

This team library setting applies to AI agents and Chat, not to the Chrome extension. It also doesn't limit a member's own AI assist or Evaluate: each member chooses their own provider, and those send text to it as described in [What AI features send, and where](https://promptmason.ai/docs/ai-privacy). Your personal library has no such setting: there, **What connected apps can do** decides, with no hourly limit.

In a team library, a change an AI agent made is marked **via AI app** next to the person's name.

## The API token for an agent you set up yourself

Every AI agent uses one API token, a long secret code that proves to PromptMason it's allowed in. Agents you add with **Connect an AI agent** read it on their own, so you don't need to do anything with it.

You find it under **Set up another AI agent by hand**, in **Settings → AI & connected apps**. PromptMason says: "AI agents added with Connect above use this token automatically. Give it only to an agent you set up yourself, and keep it private."

![The Set up another AI agent by hand row with the API token hidden behind dots and a Regenerate API token button.](https://promptmason.ai/images/docs/agent-access-api-token-row.webp)

- The box under **API token** shows only the last characters. Click the eye button (**Show token**) to see all of it.
- Click the copy button, to the right of the eye button, to copy the whole token. PromptMason shows "Full token copied to clipboard."

All your AI agents share one API token, so you can't use it to cut off a single agent. To stop one agent, remove PromptMason from that agent, or set **What connected apps can do** to **Off** to stop them all.

### Regenerate the API token

Do this if you think someone else has your API token. It can't be undone.

1. Under **Set up another AI agent by hand**, click **Regenerate API token**.
2. Read the dialog: "AI agents added with Connect pick up the new token on their own. One you set up by hand stops working until you give it the new token. The Chrome extension isn't affected. This can't be undone."
3. Click **Regenerate**.

PromptMason shows "New token generated." If an agent you set up by hand used the old token, give it the new one. If regenerating fails, PromptMason shows "Could not regenerate the token." Try again.

## The extension token

The Chrome extension uses its own token, separate from the API token. You find it under **Chrome extension**, in **Settings → AI & connected apps**, labeled **Extension token**. It has the same eye and copy buttons. For where to paste it, see [Connect the extension to PromptMason](https://promptmason.ai/docs/chrome-extension#connect-the-extension-to-promptmason).

### Regenerate the extension token

Regenerating can't be undone, and the extension stops working until you paste the new token into it.

1. Under **Chrome extension**, click **Regenerate extension token**.
2. Read the dialog: "The Chrome extension stops working until you paste the new token into it. AI agents aren't affected. This can't be undone."
3. Click **Regenerate**.

PromptMason shows "New token generated. Paste it into the Chrome extension." Then [replace the token in the extension](https://promptmason.ai/docs/chrome-extension#replace-the-token).

## Related guides

- [Connect an AI agent through MCP](https://promptmason.ai/docs/connect-ai-agent)
- [Team libraries](https://promptmason.ai/docs/team-libraries)
- [Troubleshooting MCP connections](https://promptmason.ai/docs/mcp-troubleshooting)

## Want a hand?

Paste this prompt into Claude, ChatGPT or another AI assistant, together with this guide, to be walked through it step by step:

> I've connected an AI agent to PromptMason. Help me choose between “Full access”, “Read-only” and “Off”, and walk me through changing the setting and restarting the agent.