Enabling writes

Everything is read-only by default. A write has to pass every layer:

Layer	Who controls it	Where
1. Server ceiling	The operator	CVCUE_ENABLE_WRITES=true
2. Connection switch	You	Dashboard → connection → Turn writes on
3. Key role	Your CV-CUE admin	Launchpad → Admin → Keys
4. Confirm before write	You, in the chat	Every write is previewed and waits for your OK (on by default)
5. Confirmation flag	Claude	Destructive tools also require confirm=true

With a raw API key instead of an account, layer 2 is the X-CVCUE-Enable-Writes: true header and layer 4 is X-CVCUE-Write-Guard: true (off unless you send it).

Confirm before write

Confirm before write is a per-connection setting, on by default for new connections. With it on, no write reaches CV-CUE the first time Claude tries it:

1. Claude calls a write tool, such as cvcue_reboot_aps or a PUT through cvcue_api_execute.
2. The server doesn’t send it. It answers confirm_required with a preview: the action, the exact request, and which connection it targets. It also returns a confirm_token.
3. Claude shows you the preview and waits for you to say yes.
4. Claude repeats the identical call with the confirm_token, and only then does it run.

The token is an HMAC over your account, the connection and a canonical fingerprint of the whole request. So:

• Changing anything about the request (a MAC, a body field, the path) needs a new preview.
• A token for one connection doesn’t work on another.
• Tokens expire after 10 minutes. An old token gets you a fresh preview, not a write.

It’s a safety net against mistakes, not an access control: a token isn’t single-use, and the key’s CV-CUE role is still what limits what can be changed. Turn it off per connection on the dashboard (Turn confirm-before-write off) if you’d rather writes run directly.

On a local server, set CVCUE_WRITE_GUARD=true to get the same behaviour.

What counts as a write

• Curated tools marked ✎ in the tool reference: cvcue_create_location, cvcue_delete_location, cvcue_reboot_aps, cvcue_disconnect_client, cvcue_delete_ssid.
• Any cvcue_api_execute call that isn’t a GET.

Recommendations

• Keep a read-only connection as your default, and a separate write-enabled connection you switch to deliberately (“Use my HQ-admin connection”).
• Give write-enabled connections a key whose role covers only what you intend to change.
• Leave confirm before write on for any connection that can change production.
• Writes can’t send a masked secret back: a body containing ***REDACTED*** is refused, so editing an SSID through the API won’t overwrite its passphrase with the mask.