Approval Gate
A checkpoint where the agent must pause and get a human’s yes before taking a risky action.
Think of it like
The two-key launch: the system is ready, but a person still has to turn the second key before anything fires.
Example
The agent drafts the email and prepares to send, but stops at the gate — you review it, click approve, and only then does it go out.
How it actually works
Approval gates insert human judgment before consequential, irreversible, or expensive steps — deleting data, spending money, sending on your behalf. They’re the practical tool for tuning autonomy: automate the cheap, reversible stuff and gate the rest. The design tension is placement — too many gates and the agent’s no faster than doing it yourself; too few and an unattended mistake becomes real.
For product teams
How you get the speed of automation without betting the farm on the agent being right.
For engineers
A human-in-the-loop checkpoint requiring explicit confirmation before executing a designated high-risk action.
Related
- Autonomy — The dial it controls.
- Computer Use — The risky moves it typically guards.
- Action Space — The action set it filters.
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