"Blocked:" messages during a run: what the safety guard stopped and why

While a run is working you may see a line that starts with Blocked:. This article explains what that line means, why the action was stopped, and what happens next. Short version: nothing is broken, and nothing was lost.

What the guard is

Booked Solid OS has a structural safety layer that checks every action before it runs, on every run, even when your autonomy dial is set to Run it. It is not advice to the AI - it stops the action before the tool ever executes. Actions it stops cold include:

• Sending - network commands and tools that would deliver, publish, or post something on their own
• Paying - payment commands and payment services are always denied, at every setting
• Deleting - commands that destroy data
• Reading secrets - credential files, environment variables, and stored keys
• Reaching outside the workspace - including any attempt to touch the app's own data folder, or to rewrite the house rules and play runbooks that constrain the engine

Reading a "Blocked:" line

The line names what was attempted and why it was stopped. Common ones decoded:

• Sending a message... is never automatic - the run tried to send something directly. The message becomes a draft or a decision card for you instead.
• Moving or charging money is never automatic - anything touching payments is stopped, always. There is no setting that changes this.
• Deleting or destroying data is never automatic - a destructive command was refused.

Integration settings produce their own blocks too. If you set a connection to read-only on the Permissions tab, tools that create, update, delete, or send through it are denied; a write-only connection denies reading tools. Those blocks reflect your own settings, working as intended.

What Otto does next

A block does not end the run. The run keeps going, and the blocked action takes the drafting path instead: it shows up as a draft for you to review, or as a decision card waiting for your approval. You still get the work - you just get the final say.

Good to know

• Every block is written to brain/guard-log.md inside your workspace folder, so you can see exactly what was attempted and when.
• A block is not an error to work around. It is the reason you can turn the dial up with confidence: your files, your accounts, and your money stay in your hands no matter what a run tries.
• If the same block keeps appearing and you believe the action should be allowed, check the connection's access level on the Permissions tab before anything else.

Still stuck? Email bookedsolid@kivimedia.freshdesk.com and a person will help.