A Human Approval Step Should Change the Route Not Just the Outcome

Human approval is useful only when it changes workflow behavior, not when it merely decorates a decision after the path is already fixed.

An approval step that arrives after the decision path is already locked in does not add much control. It only adds ceremony.

The useful pattern

• Pause the workflow before irreversible actions.
• Change the next route based on the approval result.
• Record why the approved route was allowed.

What to avoid

• Approval that happens after the write.
• Approval with no alternate route.
• Approval that leaves no audit evidence behind.

Use the architecture guide, blackboard schema, and examples when designing approval transitions.