Glossary · Agents & tools

Approval Gate

A control point that blocks a consequential action until an authorized person or policy grants permission.

Why it matters

It limits the blast radius of uncertain model decisions while preserving automation for reversible work.

In practice

Let an agent draft a database migration and run it against a disposable database, but require an owner to approve any production execution.

Common confusion

An approval gate asks whether an action is authorized. A verification gate asks whether evidence shows the action is correct.

Related terms

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