Approval Mode. The governed rule that says when an action may proceed automatically, when it requires explicit approval, when it must escalate, and when it must be denied.
Approval mode is policy made executable. It combines risk tier, execution mode, actor authority, evidence requirements, human-only decision boundaries, and product defaults into one enforceable answer. Approval-by-default, tiered approval, dry-run-only execution, senior review, dual control, and deny-only behavior are approval modes when the system records and enforces them consistently.