Human-in-the-Loop: You’re Always in Control

The Philosophy of Developer Oversight

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GameCatalyst is built on a straightforward idea: AI assists, but you decide. Vex is a powerful development partner, but you are always the one in charge. Every feature in GameCatalyst reinforces this principle from the ground up.

The core philosophy:

AI is a tool, not a replacement. Vex executes your decisions. It does not make decisions on its own. You describe what you want built, and Vex builds it under your supervision. If you do not like the direction, you can pause, redirect, or cancel at any time.
Transparency over automation. You can always see what Vex is doing and why. The Plan Wizard shows live progress on every task. The Activity Log records every action. Workspace plans track every step with verification gates. Nothing happens in secret.
Safety over speed. Dry-run mode, verification gates, and permission checks catch mistakes before they happen. GameCatalyst would rather slow down and double-check than rush and break something important in your project.
Reversibility. Most operations can be undone. Scene saves give you restore points. Version control tracks all file changes. Dry-run previews let you see what would happen before committing.
Explicit over implicit. Vex never auto-selects projects or makes assumptions about what you want. You must explicitly say “Select the MyGame project” before Vex can do anything in your scene.

How you stay in control:

GameCatalyst gives you multiple control points at every level:

You choose which AI client to use (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, any MCP client)
You choose which project to work on (explicit selection required)
You enable or disable individual commands in Tool Permissions (all 60+ toggleable)
You decide whether dry-run mode is active or turned off
You decide whether plans require your approval before Vex starts executing
You set the autonomy level — how independently Vex works (Cautious, Balanced, or High)
You define which file system operations the AI can perform (create, edit, delete, copy, move, rename)

You set the boundaries. Vex operates strictly within them. If you want Vex to ask before every major step, set the autonomy slider to Cautious. If you want Vex to work independently and only stop for critical blockers, set it to High. The choice is always yours.

This philosophy is not just a design preference — it is a safety requirement. AI should amplify your capabilities and save you time, not override your judgment or make changes you did not approve.