Pause workflows for approval with Chat SDK
By Steven Van ·
You can build human-in-the-loop approvals with Chat SDK through the new chat/workflow subpath.
Chat SDK now supports human-in-the-loop approvals through a new chat/workflow subpath, for workflows built with Vercel's Workflow SDK. One requestApproval call posts a card with Approve and Deny buttons and suspends the workflow until someone decides. The wait can last seconds or days and survives deploys and restarts. There's no need for an approvals table, an onAction handler, or a polling loop: the workflow can start from any handler, and Thread instances serialize across the workflow boundary automatically.
- Scoped approvers: passing approvers restricts who can decide. Clicks from anyone else post a notice, and the workflow keeps waiting.
- Verified decisions: Chat SDK checks the platform's signature on every click, so the user.id on the result is the person who decided.
- Audit trail: once a decision lands or the timeout elapses, the card is edited in place with an outcome line, preventing stale clicks.
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