Pause before the irreversible

Let the agent prepare the work. Put a person at the last safe moment.

Is Agenticis-agentic.com
The score is an at-a-glance summary; the individual checks and evidence are the useful part of the report.
MethodologyRead docs ↗

Notes from the Is Agentic checks and report format.

Draft, inspect, then act

Run the workflow, inspect the change, and approve it.

Autonomous publishBad
Draft
Check
Publish

Nothing has run yet.

execute() immediately
Approval boundaryGood
Draft
Check
Approve

Nothing has run yet.

needsApproval: true
const publishRelease = tool({
  description: 'Publish the prepared release to production.',
  inputSchema: releaseSchema,
  needsApproval: true,
  execute: async ({ releaseId }, { approval }) => {
    if (!approval.approved) return { status: 'cancelled' };
    return publish(releaseId);
  },
});

Why it matters, pros and cons

Why it matters

Approval belongs immediately before the consequence, after the person can see exactly what will happen. Asking too early is consent without context.

Pros

  • Preparation stays fast and autonomous.
  • The decision includes a concrete diff.
  • Denial is a normal workflow state.

Cons

  • Approval fatigue makes people rubber-stamp.
  • Low-risk reversible actions may not need a gate.
  • The prompt must name scope, target, and consequence.