How to design review, correction, escalation, expiry, and resumption into agentic workflows.
Pause before action
The workflow should enter a named waiting state before the consequential tool call. Store the proposed action and enough resumable state to continue safely. Avoid holding an invisible process open while the reviewer receives an unstructured message somewhere else.
Present a decision, not a transcript
Show the objective, recommended action, material evidence, uncertainty, target, and consequence. Long model traces are rarely an effective approval interface. The reviewer needs the smallest complete decision packet and a path to inspect sources when necessary.
Support correction and escalation
Useful outcomes include approve, reject, edit, request more evidence, change the owner, and escalate. Each outcome should have a defined transition. A corrected action should be revalidated rather than bypassing the checks applied to the original proposal.
Handle expiry, duplication, and replay
Approvals need expiry rules when the underlying data, price, budget, or document can change. Resumption should confirm the target state and use idempotency controls so repeated clicks, retries, or delayed messages do not execute the action twice.
References
This is an internal PodLabsTech design framework informed by public agent guidance. It does not replace domain-specific risk, legal, or compliance review.