Pause workflows for approval with Chat SDK
Chat SDK can pause a workflow for a verified human decision and resume after seconds or days, without a custom approvals table, action handler, or polling loop.
Chat SDK’s new **chat/workflow** path adds requestApproval, which posts Approve and Deny controls and suspends a Workflow SDK run. The wait survives deploys and restarts, and Thread state crosses the workflow boundary automatically.
Use this as a durable gate before an agent deploys, changes production data, or takes another consequential action. **Scoped approvers**, platform-signature checks, and the returned user identity reduce the custom authorization plumbing.
Chat SDK’s new **chat/workflow** path adds requestApproval, which posts Approve and Deny controls and suspends a Workflow SDK run. The wait survives deploys and restarts, and Thread state crosses the workflow boundary automatically. Use this as a durable gate before an agent deploys, changes production data, or takes another consequential action. **Scoped approvers**, platform-signature checks, and the returned user identity reduce the custom authorization plumbing. The material covers a binary approval card, timeout handling, and an edited-in-place audit outcome. It does not describe richer review flows, delegation, or how long approval records remain available.
This turns human approval from transient chat interaction into a restart-safe workflow primitive for consequential agent actions. Scoped approvers, signature validation, identity return, timeouts, and an updated audit outcome reduce custom authorization work, while the binary decision model leaves multi-stage review, delegation, and retention requirements unresolved.