# Which AI agent actions need a human OK?

Human in the loop, made simple: let an AI agent read, research, and draft on its own, and make it ask before it sends, spends, publishes, signs, or deletes. A table, a rule to paste, and a first-week review.

Canonical HTML: https://agentlane.net/guides/ai-agent-human-approval-rules/

## Rule of thumb

If you cannot undo it in about a minute, the agent asks first. Reading, research, drafts, and notes run alone. Sending, spending, publishing, signing, sharing, and deleting wait for a human OK.

## Steps

1. **Write the rule into the agent’s instructions.** Paste a short rule into its instructions (the standing text it reads before every task), using the example on this page.
2. **Turn on the platform’s own approval setting.** Where your agent tool offers a setting that asks before an action runs, switch it on for sending, buying, and deleting, so the rule does not rely on the prompt alone.
3. **Keep a short allowlist of services.** An allowlist is a short list of the only providers and stores the agent may use. Anything not on it, including signing up for a new service, is an ask-first.
4. **Log every action.** Record the date, what the agent did, and who approved it, so you can check the rule is working.
5. **Review the rule after the first week.** One week in, read the log, keep the asks that caught real problems, and keep sending, spending, publishing, signing, and deleting ask-first.

## FAQ

### What does human in the loop mean for an AI agent?

It means a person approves certain actions before the agent carries them out. The agent does the work up to that point, then stops and waits for a yes.

### What should an AI agent be allowed to do on its own?

Things you can undo in about a minute and that nobody else sees: reading, searching, summarizing, drafting, and keeping notes or logs.

### Which AI agent actions need approval?

Anything that sends, spends, publishes, signs, shares, or deletes. Those reach other people or cost money, and you cannot quietly take them back.

### Does asking for approval make the agent too slow?

Usually not. Most agent work is reading and drafting, so the approvals are a few short yes-or-no checks a day, each with the exact action in front of you.