# Pause workflows for approval with Chat SDK

Source: [Vercel](https://vercel.com/changelog/chat-sdk-durable-approvals)  
Feed7 permalink: https://feed7.dev/p/chat-sdk-durable-approvals-1yfmvu0  
Published: 2026-08-06T00:00:00.000Z  
Trust: Official Source (official_source)

## Why Included

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.

## Source Summary

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.

## Practical Implication

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.

## Agent-Ready Context

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.

## Connected Context

Feed7 judgment across 368 accumulated Signals:

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.

- [Chat SDK now supports reactions and ephemeral messages on Teams](https://feed7.dev/p/chat-sdk-reactions-and-ephemeral-messages-on-teams-1e9k504) — Teams-specific private messaging and token controls complement durable approvals at the channel boundary, but also show that delivery and authentication behavior can remain adapter-specific.
- [Use any Chat SDK adapter with eve](https://feed7.dev/p/eve-chat-sdk-channel-03h905c) — eve already carries approval cards and threads across adapters; durable workflow suspension adds restart-safe execution semantics beneath that cross-channel interaction layer.
- [MCP Tasks (async): Why Aren't Any Agents Supporting Them? — Cornelia Davis, Temporal](https://feed7.dev/p/mcp-tasks-async-why-aren-t-any-agents-supporting-them-cornelia-davis-tem-1fnlb47) — MCP Tasks identifies persisted state, recovery, timeouts, and delayed human input as requirements for durable tool work; requestApproval implements a bounded version of that pattern inside Vercel’s workflow stack.

## Context Map

- Layer: tools
- Domains: coding
- Topics: agent-sdks, tool-use, agent-reliability

## Uncertainty

- 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.

## Agent Instruction

Use this item as source-backed context. Do not invent claims beyond the linked source. If this item conflicts with another source, call out the conflict.