It ordinarily stays recir if you put it there. The traction battery ECU does have a veto though (recirculating air does not cool the battery, only air that flows in the front and out the back, so if the battery ECU wants more cooling it will send a request for fresh to the A/C).
A robotic hand that pushes the appropriate buttons for you? There's nothing in Toyota techstream software that allows you to change that... But maybe an A/C shop could find a way to disable it when it its in recirculation mode? But I'm skeptical the car's computers will be ok with that....
If you have the temp set low and fan is low, the evaporator will start to freeze. If you have the a/c set to auto, it will change to fresh air to keep the evaporator from freezing. If you choose manual a/c, it will stay in the fresh air position if you put it there.
