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

# Permissions

> Every app in Pomeroy starts switched off. This is what a toggle does, what macOS asks you for when you switch one on, and how to change your mind.

Pomeroy has ten switches, one per app, and all ten start off. Nothing is
requested from macOS, and no tool is served, for an app you leave off.

## A toggle and a grant are two different things

This distinction matters, because they can disagree.

<Columns cols={2}>
  <div>
    **The toggle** is yours

    It records what you want Pomeroy to do. It lives in Pomeroy's settings, and
    Pomeroy obeys it. Switching an app off takes its tools away from every
    assistant immediately.
  </div>

  <div>
    **The grant** is macOS's

    It is the operating system's answer to a permission request. macOS owns it,
    stores it, and is the only thing that can take it back, in **System
    Settings → Privacy & Security**.
  </div>
</Columns>

So switching Calendar off in Pomeroy does not revoke the Calendar grant. It
stops Pomeroy using it. If you want the grant gone too, take it back in System
Settings; Pomeroy will ask again the next time you switch that app on.

Both gates have to be open for a tool to run. If either is shut, the assistant
gets a plain refusal that names the switch to flip.

## What each app asks for

Switching an app on is the only thing that ever triggers a macOS prompt, and it
prompts only for that app.

| App       | What macOS asks                             | When                    |
| --------- | ------------------------------------------- | ----------------------- |
| Calendar  | Access to your calendars                    | You switch Calendar on  |
| Reminders | Access to your reminders                    | You switch Reminders on |
| Contacts  | Access to your contacts                     | You switch Contacts on  |
| Mail      | Permission to control Mail                  | You switch Mail on      |
| Notes     | Permission to control Notes                 | You switch Notes on     |
| Shortcuts | Permission to control Shortcuts             | You switch Shortcuts on |
| Messages  | A file dialog, where you hand over one file | You switch Messages on  |
| Location  | Access to your location, while running      | You switch Location on  |
| Maps      | Nothing                                     | Never                   |
| Weather   | Nothing                                     | Never                   |

Maps and Weather have no prompt of their own: MapKit and WeatherKit answer any
app that asks. For those two the toggle is the entire gate, which is why they
still start off.

<Note>
  **Mail, Notes and Shortcuts are asked for separately.** macOS prompts once per
  app Pomeroy sends an Apple event to, so approving Mail says nothing about
  Notes. You will see up to three prompts, not one.
</Note>

## Messages is different

Your messages live in one file, `~/Library/Messages/chat.db`, which macOS
guards behind **Full Disk Access**.

Pomeroy does not ask for Full Disk Access, and will not. It is one switch that
would hand Pomeroy every file on your Mac, including your mail, your browser
history and your backups, in order to read one database.

Instead, switching Messages on opens a standard file dialog at
`~/Library/Messages` with `chat.db` already selected and every other file greyed
out. You hand over that one file. Pomeroy keeps a read-only bookmark to it, and
holds no grant over anything else on your Mac.

[The full
reasoning](/docs/privacy/what-pomeroy-asks-macos-for#messages-and-why-full-disk-access-is-not-here).

## What Pomeroy will never ask for

Two grants are permanently out: **Accessibility** and **Screen Recording**.

That refusal is worth more than a promise, because you can check it yourself.
Open **System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility**. Pomeroy is not in
the list, because it never asks.

It costs real features, such as knowing which window is frontmost or attaching a
screenshot to a support report. They are declined on purpose. [Why the refusal
binds the grant, not the
use](/docs/privacy/what-pomeroy-asks-macos-for#why-the-refusal-binds-the-grant-not-the-use).

## Changing your mind

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Settings">
    Click the Pomeroy icon in your menu bar and choose **Settings**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Switch apps on or off">
    The same grid from setup. Switching an app on for the first time asks macOS
    for its grant; switching one off takes its tools away at once.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Take a grant back, if you want to">
    Go to **System Settings → Privacy & Security** and remove Pomeroy from the
    relevant list. Pomeroy reads grants live and never caches them, so it
    notices straight away.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  You do not need to restart your assistant after changing a toggle. The tool
  list stays the same; what changes is whether a call is allowed through.
</Tip>