ORCFLO Documentation

Overview

Tool Approval gives you human-in-the-loop control over AI tool usage. When enabled, the workflow pauses before executing a tool and waits for your approval. You can review the exact inputs the AI is sending, then approve or deny the operation.

Safety First

Tool Approval is especially valuable for workflows that interact with external systems, modify data, or perform actions that can't be easily undone.

How It Works

When the AI decides to use a tool that requires approval, the workflow pauses and notifies you. You review the tool call, then approve or deny it.

AI Decides to Use a Tool

During workflow execution, the AI determines it needs to use a tool (e.g., send an email, make an HTTP request).

Workflow Pauses

If approval is required, the workflow pauses and you receive a notification. The step status shows "Awaiting Approval."

You Review the Tool Call

View the exact inputs the AI is sending to the tool - URLs, request bodies, email content, etc.

Approve or Deny

Approve to proceed, or deny with optional reasoning. The AI receives your feedback and continues accordingly.

Enabling Tool Approval

Tool Approval is configured per LLM step. You can enable it for all tools or rely on the automatic requirements for dangerous operations.

Select an LLM Step

Click on the LLM step in your workflow to open its configuration panel.

Open Tool Settings

Navigate to the Tools section where you configure which tools are available to the AI.

Enable Tool Approval

Toggle on "Require Tool Approval" to require approval for all tool calls from this step.

Granular Control

You can enable Tool Approval on specific LLM steps without affecting others. Use it on steps that perform sensitive operations while keeping low-risk steps running automatically.

The Approval Process

When a tool requires approval, you'll see the pending request in the workflow execution view.

What You'll See

The approval request shows you exactly what the AI wants to do:

Tool Name: Which tool is being called (e.g., http_request, send_email)
Input Parameters: The exact data being sent - URLs, headers, body content, recipients
AI Reasoning: Why the AI decided to use this tool based on your prompt

Approving a Request

Click "Approve" to allow the tool to execute. The workflow resumes immediately and the tool runs with the displayed inputs.

Denying a Request

Click "Deny" to block the tool call. You can optionally provide reasoning explaining why you denied it.

Action	What Happens
Approve	Tool executes with the displayed inputs, workflow continues
Deny	Tool does not execute, AI receives denial and your reasoning
Deny with Reasoning	AI can adjust its approach based on your feedback and may try an alternative

Workflow Pauses Until Response

The workflow remains paused until you approve or deny. There is no timeout - the workflow will wait indefinitely for your response.

Required Approvals

Some operations always require approval regardless of your settings. These are potentially dangerous operations that could modify external systems.

HTTP Methods Requiring Approval

When using the HTTP Request tool, certain methods always require approval because they can modify or delete data:

Method	Approval Required	Reason
`GET`	Only if enabled	Read-only, no data modification
`POST`	Always	Creates new data or triggers actions
`PUT`	Always	Replaces existing data
`PATCH`	Always	Modifies existing data
`DELETE`	Always	Permanently removes data

Cannot Disable

Approval requirements for POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE cannot be disabled. This is a safety measure to prevent unintended data modifications.

Best Practices

Follow these guidelines for effective use of Tool Approval:

Enable approval for workflows that interact with production systems
Review inputs carefully before approving - check URLs, data, and recipients
Provide clear denial reasoning so the AI can adjust its approach
Use approval during development to understand how the AI uses tools
Consider disabling approval for trusted, well-tested workflows
Monitor pending approvals to avoid blocking time-sensitive workflows

When to Enable Tool Approval

Scenario	Recommendation
Development & Testing	Enable to understand AI behavior and catch issues early
Production with External APIs	Enable for write operations, consider disabling for reads
Internal Workflows	Disable for trusted, well-tested automations
Scheduled Workflows	Use carefully - approval will pause until you respond

Key Takeaways

Tool Approval gives you human-in-the-loop control over AI actions
Review exact inputs before tools execute
Deny with reasoning to help the AI adjust its approach
POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE always require approval for HTTP requests
Workflows pause until you respond - no timeout