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15th June 2026

Release datasette-agent 0.3a0 — An LLM-powered agent for Datasette
  • New tool, execute_write_sql, which requests user approval and then writes to a database - taking user permissions into account. #27

I added a mechanism for asking user approval in datasette agent 0.2a0. The new execute_write_sql tool can now prompt the user for all kinds of useful operations. Here's an example where I add some pelican sightings to my pelican_sightings table:

Screenshot of a chat interface showing a write SQL confirmation dialog. User message (blue bubble): "I saw 4 pelicans flying over the harbor". Collapsed tool section: "► Tool: execute_write_sql". A yellow-bordered confirmation card reads: "Confirm write SQL batch / Database: pelicans / Statements execute in order. If one statement fails, later statements will not be executed. / Statement 1 / INSERT INTO pelican_sightings (number_of_pelicans, notes) VALUES (:number_of_pelicans, :notes); / number_of_pelicans 4 / notes Flying over the harbor". A table with columns "Operation, Database, Table, Required permissions" shows row: "insert, pelicans, pelican_sightings" with permission buttons "insert-row", "update-row", "delete-row". Below: "Execute 1 write SQL statement against database 'pelicans'? / Asked by tool: execute_write_sql" with "Yes" (blue) and "No" (gray) buttons.

The new version also enhances the datasette agent chat terminal mode to support approvals, and adds several new options including --unsafe mode for auto-approving them:

  • datasette agent chat can execute tools that require user approval. #30
  • Three new options for datasette agent chat - --root to run as root, --yes to approve all ask user questions, and --unsafe for both.
  • Tools can now provide plain text alternatives to HTML, for display in the datasette agent chat CLI. #31

The datasette agent chat content.db -m gpt-5.5 --unsafe command can now be used to chat directly with a specific database and directly modify it through prompts like "create a notes table", "add a note about X" etc.

This is a beat by Simon Willison, posted on 15th June 2026.

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