Approval Queues

Approval queues provide human-in-the-loop oversight for AI agent operations. They allow teams to configure approval gates at critical points in a pipeline, ensuring that sensitive, high-cost, or high-risk operations receive human review before proceeding.

How Approval Gates Work

An approval gate is a checkpoint inserted into a workflow that pauses execution and routes the pending action to a queue for human review. When a pipeline reaches an approval gate:

1. The pipeline execution pauses at the gate
2. A queue item is created with the pending action and context
3. The assigned reviewer receives a notification
4. The reviewer can approve, reject, or modify the action
5. The pipeline resumes or terminates based on the decision

The pipeline remains paused until a decision is made. Pending items that exceed a configurable timeout are escalated or auto-rejected based on your organization’s policy.

Configuring Approval Gates

Approval gates can be triggered by several conditions:

Cost Thresholds

Automatically require approval when an operation exceeds a cost limit.

{
  "gate_type": "cost_threshold",
  "threshold_usd": 0.50,
  "message": "Pipeline cost exceeds $0.50 threshold",
  "approvers": ["team_lead", "admin"]
}

When the cumulative cost of a pipeline run crosses the threshold, the next agent execution is held for approval. This prevents runaway costs from retry loops or unexpectedly expensive model calls.

Sensitivity Rules

Require approval for operations involving sensitive data or high-impact actions.

{
  "gate_type": "sensitivity",
  "triggers": ["external_api_call", "data_export", "model_override"],
  "approvers": ["security_team"]
}

Manual Gates

Insert explicit approval points in any workflow via the workflow builder.

{
  "gate_type": "manual",
  "position": "after:style_analysis",
  "message": "Review style analysis before proceeding to recommendations",
  "approvers": ["content_team"]
}

Queue Actions

Reviewers interact with pending items through three actions:

The modify action opens an editor where the reviewer can adjust the agent’s output data before it is passed to the next agent in the pipeline. This is useful for correcting minor issues without re-running the entire pipeline.

Role-Based Routing

Approval items are routed based on organizational roles. The routing system supports:

• Direct assignment — route to specific users
• Role-based — route to anyone with a particular role (e.g., team_lead, admin)
• Round-robin — distribute items evenly across a team
• Escalation chains — if not acted on within a time window, escalate to the next level

{
  "routing": {
    "primary": { "role": "team_lead", "timeout_minutes": 30 },
    "escalation": { "role": "admin", "timeout_minutes": 60 },
    "final": { "action": "auto_reject", "timeout_minutes": 120 }
  }
}

Notification System

The approval queue integrates with the dashboard notification system to alert reviewers of pending items. Notifications appear:

• In-dashboard — badge count on the approval queue icon, real-time updates via SSE
• Webhook — configurable outbound webhooks for integration with Slack, email, or other notification systems

Each notification includes the pipeline name, the triggering condition, the estimated cost, and a direct link to the review interface.

Integration with Workflow Builder

Approval gates are first-class nodes in the workflow builder. To add an approval gate:

1. Drag an Approval Gate node from the sidebar palette onto the canvas
2. Connect it between two agent nodes
3. Configure the gate conditions (cost threshold, sensitivity rules, or manual)
4. Assign approvers by role or user

The workflow builder displays approval gates as distinct diamond-shaped nodes, making them visually identifiable in the pipeline layout. During execution, the gate node shows its current state (waiting, approved, rejected) in real time.

Queue Dashboard

The approval queue dashboard provides a centralized view of all pending, approved, and rejected items:

• Pending tab — items awaiting review, sorted by urgency and age
• Approved tab — recently approved items with reviewer and timestamp
• Rejected tab — rejected items with rejection reason
• Metrics — average review time, approval rate, items per reviewer

Filtering is available by pipeline, gate type, reviewer, and time range.