fix(plan): update persistent approval mode setting (#18638)

Co-authored-by: Sandy Tao <sandytao520@icloud.com>

packages/cli/src/config/config.test.ts

@@ -2624,7 +2624,7 @@ describe('loadCliConfig approval mode', () => {
     it('should use approvalMode from settings when no CLI flags are set', async () => {
       process.argv = ['node', 'script.js'];
       const settings = createTestMergedSettings({
-        tools: { approvalMode: 'auto_edit' },
+        general: { defaultApprovalMode: 'auto_edit' },
       });
       const argv = await parseArguments(settings);
       const config = await loadCliConfig(settings, 'test-session', argv);
@@ -2636,7 +2636,7 @@ describe('loadCliConfig approval mode', () => {
     it('should prioritize --approval-mode flag over settings', async () => {
       process.argv = ['node', 'script.js', '--approval-mode', 'auto_edit'];
       const settings = createTestMergedSettings({
-        tools: { approvalMode: 'default' },
+        general: { defaultApprovalMode: 'default' },
       });
       const argv = await parseArguments(settings);
       const config = await loadCliConfig(settings, 'test-session', argv);
@@ -2648,7 +2648,7 @@ describe('loadCliConfig approval mode', () => {
     it('should prioritize --yolo flag over settings', async () => {
       process.argv = ['node', 'script.js', '--yolo'];
       const settings = createTestMergedSettings({
-        tools: { approvalMode: 'auto_edit' },
+        general: { defaultApprovalMode: 'auto_edit' },
       });
       const argv = await parseArguments(settings);
       const config = await loadCliConfig(settings, 'test-session', argv);
@@ -2658,7 +2658,7 @@ describe('loadCliConfig approval mode', () => {
     it('should respect plan mode from settings when experimental.plan is enabled', async () => {
       process.argv = ['node', 'script.js'];
       const settings = createTestMergedSettings({
-        tools: { approvalMode: 'plan' },
+        general: { defaultApprovalMode: 'plan' },
         experimental: { plan: true },
       });
       const argv = await parseArguments(settings);
@@ -2669,7 +2669,7 @@ describe('loadCliConfig approval mode', () => {
     it('should throw error if plan mode is in settings but experimental.plan is disabled', async () => {
       process.argv = ['node', 'script.js'];
       const settings = createTestMergedSettings({
-        tools: { approvalMode: 'plan' },
+        general: { defaultApprovalMode: 'plan' },
         experimental: { plan: false },
       });
       const argv = await parseArguments(settings);

packages/cli/src/config/config.ts

@@ -519,8 +519,8 @@ export async function loadCliConfig(
   const rawApprovalMode =
     argv.approvalMode ||
     (argv.yolo ? 'yolo' : undefined) ||
-    ((settings.tools?.approvalMode as string) !== 'yolo'
-      ? settings.tools.approvalMode
+    ((settings.general?.defaultApprovalMode as string) !== 'yolo'
+      ? settings.general?.defaultApprovalMode
       : undefined);
 
   if (rawApprovalMode) {

packages/cli/src/config/settings.test.ts

@@ -1936,6 +1936,40 @@ describe('Settings Loading and Merging', () => {
       );
     });
 
+    it('should migrate tools.approvalMode to general.defaultApprovalMode', () => {
+      const userSettingsContent = {
+        tools: {
+          approvalMode: 'plan',
+        },
+      };
+
+      (fs.readFileSync as Mock).mockImplementation(
+        (p: fs.PathOrFileDescriptor) => {
+          if (p === USER_SETTINGS_PATH)
+            return JSON.stringify(userSettingsContent);
+          return '{}';
+        },
+      );
+
+      const setValueSpy = vi.spyOn(LoadedSettings.prototype, 'setValue');
+      const loadedSettings = loadSettings(MOCK_WORKSPACE_DIR);
+
+      migrateDeprecatedSettings(loadedSettings, true);
+
+      expect(setValueSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        SettingScope.User,
+        'general',
+        expect.objectContaining({ defaultApprovalMode: 'plan' }),
+      );
+
+      // Verify removal
+      expect(setValueSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        SettingScope.User,
+        'tools',
+        expect.not.objectContaining({ approvalMode: 'plan' }),
+      );
+    });
+
     it('should migrate all 4 inverted boolean settings', () => {
       const userSettingsContent = {
         general: {

packages/cli/src/config/settings.ts

@@ -911,6 +911,36 @@ export function migrateDeprecatedSettings(
       }
     }
 
+    // Migrate tools settings
+    const toolsSettings = settings.tools as Record<string, unknown> | undefined;
+    if (toolsSettings) {
+      if (toolsSettings['approvalMode'] !== undefined) {
+        foundDeprecated.push('tools.approvalMode');
+
+        const generalSettings =
+          (settings.general as Record<string, unknown> | undefined) || {};
+        const newGeneral = { ...generalSettings };
+
+        // Only set defaultApprovalMode if it's not already set
+        if (newGeneral['defaultApprovalMode'] === undefined) {
+          newGeneral['defaultApprovalMode'] = toolsSettings['approvalMode'];
+          loadedSettings.setValue(scope, 'general', newGeneral);
+          if (!settingsFile.readOnly) {
+            anyModified = true;
+          }
+        }
+
+        if (removeDeprecated) {
+          const newTools = { ...toolsSettings };
+          delete newTools['approvalMode'];
+          loadedSettings.setValue(scope, 'tools', newTools);
+          if (!settingsFile.readOnly) {
+            anyModified = true;
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
     // Migrate experimental agent settings
     const experimentalModified = migrateExperimentalSettings(
       settings,

packages/cli/src/config/settingsSchema.ts

@@ -179,6 +179,24 @@ const SETTINGS_SCHEMA = {
         description: 'Enable Vim keybindings',
         showInDialog: true,
       },
+      defaultApprovalMode: {
+        type: 'enum',
+        label: 'Default Approval Mode',
+        category: 'General',
+        requiresRestart: false,
+        default: 'default',
+        description: oneLine`
+          The default approval mode for tool execution.
+          'default' prompts for approval, 'auto_edit' auto-approves edit tools,
+          and 'plan' is read-only mode. 'yolo' is not supported yet.
+        `,
+        showInDialog: true,
+        options: [
+          { value: 'default', label: 'Default' },
+          { value: 'auto_edit', label: 'Auto Edit' },
+          { value: 'plan', label: 'Plan' },
+        ],
+      },
       devtools: {
         type: 'boolean',
         label: 'DevTools',
@@ -1083,24 +1101,7 @@ const SETTINGS_SCHEMA = {
           },
         },
       },
-      approvalMode: {
-        type: 'enum',
-        label: 'Approval Mode',
-        category: 'Tools',
-        requiresRestart: false,
-        default: 'default',
-        description: oneLine`
-          The default approval mode for tool execution.
-          'default' prompts for approval, 'auto_edit' auto-approves edit tools,
-          and 'plan' is read-only mode. 'yolo' is not supported yet.
-        `,
-        showInDialog: true,
-        options: [
-          { value: 'default', label: 'Default' },
-          { value: 'auto_edit', label: 'Auto Edit' },
-          { value: 'plan', label: 'Plan' },
-        ],
-      },
+
       core: {
         type: 'array',
         label: 'Core Tools',