Read-Only Mode#
The first time you talk to Ava, no wallet connection happens. You paste an address; Ava reads what's publicly on-chain. That's it. We call this read-only mode.
Why this exists#
Most crypto tools start with "connect your wallet" — a fair ask once you trust them, a deal-breaker before. Ava is built so you can use it, see what it sees, and decide whether to trust it before you sign anything.
What Ava can do in read-only mode#
- Map your portfolio across protocols. Open positions on Aave, LP positions on Uniswap V3, staked ETH on Lido, idle balances, token holdings — all surfaced as a plain-English summary.
- Flag risk. Health factors getting low, idle assets earning 0%, old unlimited approvals to contracts you haven't touched in 90+ days.
- Explain what it sees. Ask follow-ups: "how risky is that?", "what would happen if ETH dropped 10%?", "which approval should I worry about first?"
- Set up alerts. Tell Ava "ping me if HF drops below 1.5" and it will — without needing any signing permission.
What Ava cannot do in read-only mode#
- Move funds. No on-chain action of any kind. No swaps, no supplies, no withdrawals, no approvals. Read-only is read-only.
- Change approvals. Including revoking risky ones — Ava can flag them, but you do the revoking yourself (Ava will give you a clean link to revoke.cash or the equivalent).
- Open or close positions. Ava can show you what a top-up would look like (simulation), but it can't execute it without an explicit, separately-signed permission.
What you give up#
Nothing dangerous. The trade-offs are:
- Ava can warn you, but it can't help you act fast. If your HF drops to 1.1 at 3am, read-only Ava can text you — but you'll have to wake up and act yourself. To let Ava act on your behalf (within caps you set), you sign a separate, revocable permission. See Permissions & Limits.
- Ava only sees what's public. It doesn't know about your CEX balances or off-chain assets unless you tell it.
When you'd graduate to action mode#
Most people are happy in read-only for a while. The reasons to move to action mode are:
- You don't want to be woken up by alerts — you'd rather Ava just fix small risks (within your caps) and tell you it did.
- You hold a position that liquidates fast (high leverage, volatile collateral) and minutes matter.
- You want hands-off rebalancing for idle assets.
Action mode is gated by a one-time signature and capped by on-chain spend limits you choose. Walk through it in Quick Start or jump to Permissions & Limits for the safety details.