Approval gate
A checkpoint in a workflow that pauses execution until a designated person approves or rejects the pending action before it proceeds.
In more detail
An approval gate is a deliberate pause in a workflow where a person must approve before the process continues. It is the concrete mechanism behind human-in-the-loop: automation does the work up to the gate, then waits for a human to sign off on the consequential action, such as sending an external message, moving money, or changing access.
The art is in placement. Gate too much and you recreate the manual bottleneck the automation was meant to remove; gate too little and consequential actions run without oversight. The right pattern is to gate the irreversible and high-stakes steps and let the reversible, low-risk ones run automatically.
Where this shows up at Ceven
Approval gates are a native part of Ceven. When you describe a workflow, you can require that the consequential steps pause for human approval before they execute, so the automation handles volume while a person stays accountable for what matters. Each approval, along with who gave it, is recorded in the audit trail.