# ADR-0006: Envelope-based tiered autonomy

**Status**: accepted · 2026-09

**Context**: Per-action human approval contradicts the ≤3-min decision KPI and
daily bidding cadence; full autonomy contradicts the mandate that AI never
directly controls.

**Decision**: Humans approve *envelopes* (policy-level bounds with validity
windows, multi-level approval); in-envelope actions auto-pass after rule check +
simulation; out-of-envelope or simulation-flagged actions escalate to humans.
Envelopes start empty and widen only on L4 shadow/online evidence (docs/12 §3);
deviation streaks auto-suspend them. Precedent: AGC regulation-band delegation.

**Consequences**: Autonomy growth is itself auditable. Approval queue shrinks to
genuine anomalies — also the main countermeasure to approval complacency
(docs/13 §3).