Explain like I'm five · AI Security

What is a Human Approval Gate?

A human approval gate, told as a story about a runner who waits for the owner's stamp before doing anything risky.

paydeleteabout to just do it, without askingthe owner doesn't know yetlike paying or deleting — hard to undo once it's done

The runner is about to do something hard to undo, all on its own.Like paying or deleting. And the owner doesn't even know yet.

done — I even finished the payment, as askedit doesn't stop by itselfcan this even be undone…?the runner just confidently gets it done — it can't tell on its own whether it's hard to undo

The runner doesn't stop by itself.It just confidently gets it done — it can't tell on its own that the job is hard to undo.

requestwaiting…the owner checks it, then stamps ita human approval gate means a person checks a risky action before it runs

A human approval gate means a person makes the last check before a risky action runs.The runner stops and waits instead of just doing it. Only after the owner looks does the stamp come down.

Pause before it runsbefore it's done, not after
Only the hard-to-undo oneslike paying or deleting
Must approve to proceedonly moves once stamped
Reject it and it stays stoppedthe owner has the final word
request→wait→owner checks✓approve→ proceed×reject→ stoponly ambiguous or hard-to-undo requests go through this line

Request, then wait, then a check, then approve or reject.Only ambiguous or hard-to-undo requests go through this line. Things like search or summarize just pass through.

stopping for every small thing is far too slowWHEN TO STOPalways stop for paying or deletingsearch and summarize just proceedwhen and who stops at this one gate is decided by the whole kitchen rules board

Waiting for the owner every single time is slow.So when and for what this approval gate kicks in gets decided ahead of time, by the whole kitchen rules board.

In one breath

A human approval gate means the owner makes a final check and stamps it before the runner does anything hard to undo.

A human approval gate is a safeguard that pauses an autonomous agent right before it carries out a hard-to-undo or sensitive action — paying, deleting, sending something external — until a person explicitly approves it. It doesn't fix the underlying state of having too much authority; it's one concrete mechanism that inserts a person at the moment that authority is actually used.

When grown-ups say it

Human approval gate
The owner's final sign-off. The overview of this whole field. → What is AI Security?
Autonomous agent
The runner that does errands on its own. The more keys it holds, the more this gate matters. → the apprentice handed too many keys
Tool calling
Taking a tool out of the drawer. The very action a runner uses to pay or delete. → What is Tool Calling?
Least privilege
Handing over only the keys that are needed. A step earlier than approval — locking the drawer itself. → What is least privilege?
The kitchen rules board
The overall system that decides when this gate kicks in. The larger rule system that this one gate lives inside. → What is the rules board?
Irreversible action
Something like paying or deleting that can't be undone. Exactly the kind of thing this gate exists to guard.
The incident bell
The bell rung when something goes wrong without approval. The scene that follows when this gate was missing.
Guardrail
The tasting checkpoint. The earlier checkpoint that filters words, before this gate. → What is a Guardrail?
Next story
The Kitchen Rules Board →
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