---
title: "Safe Deletions: How Saddle’s Approval Gate Protects Your Content"
url: "https://plugpress.co/docs/safe-deletions.md"
canonical: "https://plugpress.co/docs/safe-deletions/"
published: "2026-07-28"
modified: "2026-07-28"
author: "Fahim"
tags:
  - "Saddle"
---

# Safe Deletions: How Saddle’s Approval Gate Protects Your Content

With Saddle, an AI assistant can never delete anything on your WordPress site in a single step. Every deletion — a post, a page, a media file — first returns a **preview** of what would be removed plus a **single-use confirmation token**. Only a second call, made with that token, actually deletes anything.

## How does the two-step deletion flow work?

1. **The AI requests a deletion.** Instead of deleting, Saddle responds with a preview — what the item is, what it contains — and a one-time confirmation token.
2. **You review the preview.** A well-behaved assistant shows you exactly what would be deleted and asks for your go-ahead.
3. **The AI confirms with the token.** Only after you agree does it call again with the token, and only then is the item deleted.

## Why does Saddle work this way?

AI assistants are excellent at bulk work — which is exactly why deletion needs friction. A misunderstood instruction like "clean up the old posts" could otherwise wipe content you wanted to keep. The approval gate makes every deletion deliberate: the AI must show its work, and you stay the final decision-maker. It also creates a clear record — each deletion is an explicit, logged, two-step event.

## Can the AI skip or automate the confirmation?

No. The token is generated fresh for each deletion request and works exactly once. There is no setting that disables the gate, and no way for a connected app to delete in one call. Combined with [access levels and per-tool toggles](/docs/permissions-access-levels/), this means the worst case for a confused AI is a refused or unconfirmed request — not lost content.

## Is a preview-and-token response an error?

No — it's the system working as designed. If your assistant reports that a deletion "returned a confirmation request," that's the approval gate. Review the preview it shows you and tell it to proceed (or not). Nothing has been deleted at that point.

## What about content in the trash?

Standard WordPress behavior still applies on top of Saddle's gate: trashed posts and pages can be restored from the WordPress dashboard until the trash is emptied. Saddle's approval gate sits in front of that as an additional layer, not a replacement for it.