diff --git a/.github/fork-features.yml b/.github/fork-features.yml
index d95b2f8bf60b..a302f562c9f2 100644
--- a/.github/fork-features.yml
+++ b/.github/fork-features.yml
@@ -3114,16 +3114,16 @@ features:
       retire_when: Upstream preserves project scope across sidebar state and every new-thread entry point.
 
   - id: provider-auto-default
-    title: Start new threads in Auto where the provider reviews actions
+    title: Apply an Auto default only where the provider reviews actions
     status: maintained
     prs: [928, 930]
     invariants:
-      - The built-in default permission mode for new threads is Auto. Configs that never chose a mode, including those that kept the old Full access default, use it.
+      - The built-in default permission mode for new threads stays Full access, as upstream; Auto as the default is the user's choice.
       - With Auto as the default, a new thread on a provider whose snapshot does not report its own Auto reviewer (reviewsAutoMode) starts in Full access; Claude, Codex, and Grok report one. An unloaded snapshot or an older server counts as no reviewer.
       - Web and mobile drafts follow their selected provider until the user picks a mode; the server's bootstrap thread uses the same resolution. Picking Auto for one thread keeps Auto on every provider.
       - The provider canary's auto scenario fails a release whose Auto turn asks for approval of a routine workspace write, or whose provider does not report applying Auto; providers without reviewsAutoMode skip it.
       - provider.turn.completed reports approvalRequests, the command, file, and permission approvals the turn raised, alongside its runtimeMode.
-    rationale: Auto is the safer default where a reviewer approves routine actions, but on a provider without one Auto asks about every action, which would stall threads nobody is watching.
+    rationale: Auto is the safer default where a reviewer approves routine actions, but on a provider without one Auto asks about every action, which would stall threads nobody is watching. Making Auto the built-in default for everyone was withdrawn before release; approval counts from opted-in users are meant to inform that decision.
     implementation_paths:
       - apps/mobile/src/features/threads/new-task-flow-provider.tsx
       - apps/server/scripts/verify-provider-live.ts
@@ -3134,7 +3134,6 @@ features:
       - apps/web/src/components/ChatView.tsx
       - packages/contracts/src/providerPolicy.ts
       - packages/contracts/src/server.ts
-      - packages/contracts/src/settings.ts
       - packages/provider-core/src/server/snapshotProbe.ts
       - packages/provider-grok/src/server/status.ts
     upstream_paths:
@@ -3142,14 +3141,13 @@ features:
       - apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/ProviderEventIngestor.ts
       - apps/web/src/components/ChatView.tsx
       - packages/contracts/src/providerPolicy.ts
-      - packages/contracts/src/settings.ts
     tests:
       - apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/ProviderEventIngestor.test.ts
       - packages/contracts/src/settings.test.ts
     upstream:
       status: unassessed
       tracking: []
-      retire_when: Upstream defaults new threads to Auto on providers with their own reviewer, or styal returns to a Full access default.
+      retire_when: Upstream starts new threads in Full access on providers without their own reviewer when Auto is the default.
 
   - id: provider-auto-updates
     title: styal managed updates install canary-verified provider versions
diff --git a/docs/user/permission-modes.md b/docs/user/permission-modes.md
index c658e5985f6f..5628a97e0f39 100644
--- a/docs/user/permission-modes.md
+++ b/docs/user/permission-modes.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ composer; it applies to that thread.
 
 Set the default for new threads in **Settings → General → New threads → Permissions**.
 Projects can override the environment default. New threads use this setting rather than the
-mode of the thread you were viewing. The initial default is **Auto**. With **Auto** as the
+mode of the thread you were viewing. The initial default is **Full access**. With **Auto** as the
 default, new threads on a provider without automatic review, such as OpenCode or Antigravity,
 start in **Full access** instead of asking about every action; choose **Auto** in the composer to
 keep it for one thread. Existing threads and modes you choose in a draft keep their permissions.
diff --git a/docs/user/styal-differences.md b/docs/user/styal-differences.md
index e33e3dd30661..65cd0ccc6af5 100644
--- a/docs/user/styal-differences.md
+++ b/docs/user/styal-differences.md
@@ -65,10 +65,10 @@ works. This overview focuses on desktop and web; the mobile app is a work in pro
   [revision adb0420](https://github.com/pingdotgg/t3code/tree/adb04202b25c1c45255e76be9f03f0b346b9c5c4).
   [Send while the agent is working](./composer.md#send-while-the-agent-is-working).
 
-- **New threads default to Auto.** Claude, Codex, and Grok threads start in **Auto**, where the
-  provider's own reviewer approves routine actions and asks about the rest. Providers without
-  automatic review start in **Full access**. A default you chose yourself still applies. T3 Code
-  starts new threads in **Full access** as of
+- **An Auto default fits each provider.** With **Auto** as the default for new threads, Claude,
+  Codex, and Grok threads start in **Auto**, where the provider's own reviewer approves routine
+  actions, and providers without automatic review start in **Full access** instead of asking about
+  every action. In T3 Code an Auto default makes those providers ask, as of
   [revision 30afc56](https://github.com/pingdotgg/t3code/tree/30afc56076c86580d5d913897280bea660d44c79).
   [Permission modes](./permission-modes.md).
 
diff --git a/packages/contracts/src/providerPolicy.ts b/packages/contracts/src/providerPolicy.ts
index 8db50c982714..b4bfbbc6a89f 100644
--- a/packages/contracts/src/providerPolicy.ts
+++ b/packages/contracts/src/providerPolicy.ts
@@ -31,13 +31,6 @@ export const RuntimeMode = Schema.Literals([
 export type RuntimeMode = typeof RuntimeMode.Type;
 export const DEFAULT_RUNTIME_MODE: RuntimeMode = "full-access";
 
-/**
- * The built-in default for new threads. A provider whose Auto mode has no
- * reviewer of its own starts in Full access instead; see
- * `resolveNewThreadRuntimeMode`.
- */
-export const DEFAULT_NEW_THREAD_RUNTIME_MODE: RuntimeMode = "auto";
-
 /**
  * The mode a new thread starts in from the default-permissions setting. Auto
  * relies on the provider's own reviewer to approve actions; a provider without
diff --git a/packages/contracts/src/settings.test.ts b/packages/contracts/src/settings.test.ts
index 05a811bc6a99..d832ca5d72aa 100644
--- a/packages/contracts/src/settings.test.ts
+++ b/packages/contracts/src/settings.test.ts
@@ -133,9 +133,9 @@ describe("ClientSettings rich text composer", () => {
 });
 
 describe("ServerSettings default permissions", () => {
-  it("defaults settings that never chose a mode to Auto", () => {
-    expect(decodeServerSettings({}).defaultRuntimeMode).toBe("auto");
-    expect(DEFAULT_SERVER_SETTINGS.defaultRuntimeMode).toBe("auto");
+  it("keeps full access for settings saved before a default was configured", () => {
+    expect(decodeServerSettings({}).defaultRuntimeMode).toBe("full-access");
+    expect(DEFAULT_SERVER_SETTINGS.defaultRuntimeMode).toBe("full-access");
   });
 
   it("starts a default of Auto in Full access when the provider has no Auto reviewer", () => {
diff --git a/packages/contracts/src/settings.ts b/packages/contracts/src/settings.ts
index a1ec05ed30ff..aa4d17acd11b 100644
--- a/packages/contracts/src/settings.ts
+++ b/packages/contracts/src/settings.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ import {
 } from "./model.ts";
 import { ModelSelection } from "./modelSelection.ts";
 import { ProjectScript, type ProjectMutation } from "./project.ts";
-import { DEFAULT_NEW_THREAD_RUNTIME_MODE, RuntimeMode } from "./providerPolicy.ts";
+import { DEFAULT_RUNTIME_MODE, RuntimeMode } from "./providerPolicy.ts";
 import { BrowserProfile, BrowserProfileId, DEFAULT_BROWSER_PROFILE_ID } from "./browserProfile.ts";
 import {
   DEFAULT_PREVIEW_APPEARANCE,
@@ -1195,14 +1195,8 @@ export const ServerSettings = Schema.Struct({
   defaultModelSelection: Schema.NullOr(ModelSelection).pipe(
     Schema.withDecodingDefault(Effect.succeed(null)),
   ),
-  /**
-   * The mode new threads start in, resolved per provider by
-   * `resolveNewThreadRuntimeMode`. The old built-in Full access was never
-   * persisted (defaults are stripped on write), so configs that never chose a
-   * mode move to the new built-in.
-   */
   defaultRuntimeMode: RuntimeMode.pipe(
-    Schema.withDecodingDefault(Effect.succeed(DEFAULT_NEW_THREAD_RUNTIME_MODE)),
+    Schema.withDecodingDefault(Effect.succeed(DEFAULT_RUNTIME_MODE)),
   ),
   /**
    * Per-project overrides of the keys in `PROJECT_SCOPED_SERVER_SETTING_KEYS`.