Human-in-the-loop
Human-in-the-loop
Also called: 人在回路 · HITL · 人工审批
A design pattern that inserts human approval at key points in an agent's process — the mainstream safety strategy for enterprise deployments.
Where the gates go
Not every step needs review — gates go before actions that are hard to reverse or outward-facing: payments, transfers, deleting data, sending email, publishing content, changing production config. The agent presents "what it intends to do" with the arguments, and only executes after a human confirms.
Related variants
- Human-on-the-loop: the human does not approve each step but monitors in real time and can stop it.
- Human-in-command: the human keeps authority over goals and shutdown, delegating routine execution.
Which to use depends on the risk and reversibility of a single action — in-the-loop for high risk, on-the-loop for low-risk high-volume work.
Common misconceptions
- Human-in-the-loop is not "a weaker agent" — it is an engineering response to irreversible risk.
- Requiring confirmation on every step destroys the agent's value; the skill is choosing the right gates.
Related terms
Sources
Compiled 2026-08-29 · This glossary is compiled from public papers, official specifications, and common industry definitions, and is updated as the field evolves. Corrections welcome.