Human-in-the-loop
A workflow where people supervise, approve, redirect, or validate important agent actions.
Illustrative conversation
- The support agent can draft a refund, but should it issue one automatically?
- Keep a human in the loop by pausing the refund tool call with the amount and reason visible for approval.
Definition
Human-in-the-loop describes a workflow that inserts a person at defined decision points in an automated or agentic process. The person may approve or reject a sensitive tool call, correct an intermediate result, supply missing judgment, or validate the final output. Effective HITL design specifies what pauses, what evidence the reviewer sees, who is accountable, and how rejection changes the run; merely having a person nearby is not a control.
Reviewed