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Human-in-the-Loop Approval

Some actions are too risky to block outright, but too risky to approve automatically. Auditail's require_approval rule action pauses execution and routes the request to a human for sign-off.

Coming in Full SDK

The require_approval flow requires the full Auditail backend. Join the beta to get early access.

In the preview SDK, require_approval rules behave like block rules.

How It Works​

Agent Action
    ↓
aegis.guard() → rule with action: 'require_approval' fires
    ↓
Auditail sends a Slack / email notification to your team
    ↓
Human clicks Approve or Deny
    ↓
aegis.guard() resolves with approved: true / false
    ↓
Agent proceeds or aborts

Setup​

import { Auditail, GuardrailRule } from 'auditail-sdk';

const requireApprovalForLargeTransfers: GuardrailRule = {
  name: 'large-transfer-approval',
  description: 'Transfers over $10,000 require human approval.',
  condition: (opts) => {
    const amount = opts.payload?.amount as number | undefined;
    return (amount ?? 0) > 10_000;
  },
  action: 'require_approval', // pauses — doesn't outright block
};

aegis.addRule(requireApprovalForLargeTransfers);

The Approval Notification (full SDK)​

When a require_approval rule fires, your team receives a notification with:

  • What action was attempted
  • Which agent attempted it
  • The full payload (with any sensitive fields masked per your config)
  • Approve / Deny buttons

The notification is sent to your configured channels: Slack, email, PagerDuty, or webhook.

Timeout Behavior​

If no human responds within the configured timeout (default: 30 minutes), the action is automatically denied. This is configurable per rule.

Audit Trail​

Whether approved or denied by a human, the full approval chain is logged:

{
  "auditId": "aeg_1a2b3c_x9z4k7",
  "action": "transfer_funds",
  "approved": true,
  "approvalChain": [
    {
      "reviewerId": "user_finance_lead",
      "decision": "approved",
      "timestamp": "2025-01-15T10:35:12Z",
      "note": "Verified with client over phone."
    }
  ]
}