# Human-in-the-loop Checkpoints

> Pause an agent before anything it can’t take back.

- Drop: Rule (common)
- Season 2 – Designing Agents
- Status: Tested (used on real work)
- Published: 2026-11-06
- URL: https://www.mlynarz.com/grist/human-in-the-loop-checkpoints
- Curated by: Dawid Młynarz

**Hint:** For deciding where an agent should stop and ask. You end up with a short list of the actions that need a person.

## Why

Where a checkpoint goes depends on what the action costs. How confident the model is doesn’t matter much. I pause when an action can’t be undone, spends money or speaks for the person. Everything else, the agent can just do, as long as there’s a log people can read and an easy undo.

Teams usually add too many. When every step asks for approval, people stop reading and just click, and the one pause that mattered gets the same quick glance as the nine before it.

## The drop

````markdown
Pause when an action can’t be undone, spends money, or speaks for the person. For everything else, let the agent act, keep a readable log, and make undo easy.
````