Control
Rules
You decide what AI apps may do with each account, one action at a time or a whole connection at once. Kin checks your rule on its own server every time an AI app calls, so the same rule holds in every app.
Allow, Ask me or Block
Every action on every connection has one rule:
| Rule | What happens |
|---|---|
| Allow | Runs right away. |
| Ask me | Waits for your approval each time. See Approvals and questions. |
| Block | Never runs, and AI apps do not see it. |
Rules belong to the account, not the service. A Work GitHub and a Personal GitHub are separate connections with separate rules. Kin checks the rule when an AI app asks and again right before the action runs, and changing a rule takes effect on the next call.
Set a whole connection at once
Open a connection in Connections and, under What AI may do, choose a level for all of its actions:
| Level | What it sets |
|---|---|
| Read only | Reading is allowed. Every change is blocked. |
| Ask me | Reading is allowed. Every change asks you first. |
| Ask before sending | Everything runs without asking, except actions that send or share something with other people, such as sending an email, posting a message or sharing a file. Those ask you first. |
| Allow all | Everything is allowed, including changes, without asking. |
| Block all | Nothing on this connection can be used. |
After you pick a level, you can still change any single action, and the connection then shows as Custom. Actions are grouped under Reading and Changing, and each group has one control that sets all of its actions at once. To see rules across every connection, open Rules.
New and changed actions start safe
- A new action starts at the rule your connection's level gives it. Under Ask before sending, a new change starts at Ask me unless Kin wrote that service's actions itself.
- When an action that reaches other people changes, it asks again, even where you had allowed it.
- Actions that reach your camera, screen, microphone, clipboard or files start at Ask me, even when they only read. No connection level allows them. Only you allowing that one action does.
- An action that runs any command it is given can never be set to Allow.
- Kin rechecks each remote connection's list of actions about every six hours, and keeps a record of what changed.
What each AI app may use
Open AI apps in Kin, open an app's menu, and choose Edit access:
- Under What may this app do?, choose Can read and change or Can only read. An app that can only read is refused every change, whatever the connection allows.
- Under Access, choose Everything, Only these connections or Only these profiles.
The same choices appear when an app first signs in to Kin, before you approve it. A new app starts with the connections you have now, each ticked, and not ones you add later unless you choose Everything. An app Kin could not check starts with Can only read and nothing ticked, so you choose what it may reach. Choosing Remove takes away the app's access right away, and your connections and rules stay as they are.
When an AI app asks for a change
An AI app can propose changes to your rules or profiles, such as allowing an action it keeps asking about. You see each item, with the setting now and the setting proposed, and approve or decline it. Nothing changes until you do, and approving anything that loosens a rule asks you to confirm it is you.
Pause
Select Pause in Kin's sidebar. Under What to pause, choose:
| Level | What happens |
|---|---|
| Pause everything | No AI app can search, describe, read or change anything. |
| Writes ask | Reads keep running. Every change waits for your approval, whatever its rule says. |
| Pause one AI app | That AI app stops. Every other AI app keeps working. |
Under For how long, choose 15 minutes, 1 hour, 4 hours, 24 hours, or Until I resume. A pause leaves your rules as they are. Only an owner or admin can resume Pause everything or Writes ask.
To stop one account for every app instead, pause that connection. See Pause a connection.