Human-in-the-loop Workflows

Pause workflow or agent execution at critical decision points and wait for a human to review, approve, or provide input before continuing. Use human approval workflows when execution must pause until a user:

Approves a request
Reviews workflow data
Provides structured input
Completes a business validation step

Human approval workflows support:

Approval tasks
Data Entry tasks
Workflow-based approvals
Multi-step approval chains

Human-in-the-loop workflows support durable execution. The platform preserves workflow state while waiting for user action, allowing execution to resume from the paused step after the task is completed.

How Human-in-the-loop Workflows Work

When a workflow reaches an Approval or Data Entry node, execution pauses until an assigned user completes the task.

Workflow-based Approvals

Use workflow-based approvals for multi-step approval processes, for example:

Manager approval followed by VP approval
Compliance review followed by security approval
Sequential business validation workflows

The approval workflow executes in the following sequence:

Create a workflow with approval steps.
Each approval step creates a human task.
The workflow orchestrates the sequence.

For detailed information about Inbox tasks, task management, and workflow execution behavior, see Inbox.

ABL Configuration and Human Task APIs

The following sections describe ABL configuration patterns and the Human Task APIs used in human-approval workflows.

Define Form Fields for Data Collection

When structured human input is required, define form fields in the Data Entry task definition. Example:

HUMAN_TASK:
  type: data_entry
  title: "Complete customer verification"
  priority: high

  fields:
    - name: id_verified
      type: boolean
      label: "ID verified?"
      required: true

    - name: id_type
      type: select
      label: "ID type"
      options:
        - passport
        - drivers_license
        - national_id
      required: true

    - name: notes
      type: textarea
      label: "Verification notes"
      required: false

  context:
    customerId: "cust_123"
    requestedAmount: 50000

Supported field types include:

text
number
boolean
select
textarea
date

Human Task APIs

Human Task APIs allow applications and workflows to programmatically manage approval and Data Entry tasks. Use Human Task APIs to:

View tasks
Claim tasks
Resolve tasks
Assign tasks

View Pending Tasks

GET /api/projects/:projectId/human-tasks?status=pending

Claim a Task

POST /api/projects/:projectId/human-tasks/:taskId/claim
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "userId": "your-user-id"
}

Resolve a Task

After resolution, workflow or agent execution resumes with the human decision available in the execution context.

POST /api/projects/:projectId/human-tasks/:taskId/resolve
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "respondedBy": "user-id",
  "decision": "approved",
  "fields": {
    "override_reason": "Manager verified customer identity",
    "approved_amount": 15000
  },
  "notes": "Customer provided additional documentation"
}

Assign a Task

Assign a task to a specific user:

POST /api/projects/:projectId/human-tasks/:taskId/assign
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "assignedTo": "manager-user-id"
}

Assign a task to a team:

assignedToTeam: "finance-approvers"

Troubleshooting

Issue	Resolution
Escalation never triggers	Verify trigger conditions reference valid runtime variables
Human task not appearing in the Inbox	Verify task assignment and user permissions
Workflow not resuming after task completion	Verify `on_human_complete` handlers and task resolution
Required field validation errors	Ensure all required fields are provided
Task expired before resolution	Increase task timeout duration or escalation coverage

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References

Human-in-the-loop Workflows

How Human-in-the-loop Workflows Work

Workflow-based Approvals

ABL Configuration and Human Task APIs

Define Form Fields for Data Collection

Human Task APIs

View Pending Tasks

Claim a Task

Resolve a Task

Assign a Task

Troubleshooting

​How Human-in-the-loop Workflows Work

​Workflow-based Approvals

​ABL Configuration and Human Task APIs

​Define Form Fields for Data Collection

​Human Task APIs

​View Pending Tasks

​Claim a Task

​Resolve a Task

​Assign a Task

​Troubleshooting

How Human-in-the-loop Workflows Work

Workflow-based Approvals

ABL Configuration and Human Task APIs

Define Form Fields for Data Collection

Human Task APIs

View Pending Tasks

Claim a Task

Resolve a Task

Assign a Task

Troubleshooting