Human-in-the-Loop: When to Use Agent Approval

Agents are useful because they can act autonomously. But autonomy without oversight can be a risky business. Agent approval lets you decide where to draw the line between actions an agent can take on its own and those where a human should be part of the decision.

This post covers how to think about approval in your agent design and how to choose between the different patterns Mastra provides.

The trust spectrum

Not every tool call is risky. A search is harmless. A delete is not. When designing an agent, it helps to think about where each action falls on a trust spectrum: