Agentic AI Glossary

AFK

A working pattern where an agent continues a scoped task while the user is away from the keyboard.

Illustrative conversation

  1. Can I go AFK while the agent finishes this migration?
  2. Yes, once the plan, rollback boundary, test commands, and actions that still require approval are explicit.

Definition

AFK is an informal label for leaving an agent to continue a well-scoped task without live supervision. A safe AFK task has explicit boundaries, completion and stop conditions, verification commands, and no unapproved high-impact action. It describes the user's availability, not a permission level: going away from the keyboard should never silently grant the agent authority to publish, purchase, delete, or contact people.

Reviewed