Human-in-the-Loop Checkpoint — QueueAI Patterns

The Problem

Fully autonomous agent pipelines are powerful but risky for irreversible actions — pushing code, sending emails, modifying production data. You need to trust but verify: let agents do the work, but give a human the final say at specific moments before execution continues.

The Pattern

Stage 1 (automated)
      │
      ▼
┌──────────────────┐
│  CHECKPOINT      │  ← execution pauses here
│  "outline-       │
│   approved"      │
└────────┬─────────┘
         │
   ┌─────┴──────┐
   ▼            ▼
Approve       Reject
   │            │
   ▼            ▼
Stage 2      Halt / retry
(automated)

When to Use

Before any irreversible action (writing files, pushing to git, sending comms)
When the output of Stage 1 needs human judgment before Stage 2 consumes it
Multi-step migrations where you want to review the plan before execution

When NOT to Use

Fully automated pipelines where the human isn't available to approve
Tasks where the checkpoint adds more latency than value
Low-stakes, easily reversible tasks

Code Example

import { QueueAI } from "@queueai/sdk"

const queue = new QueueAI({ apiKey: process.env.QUEUEAI_API_KEY })

const task = await queue.submit({
  name: "repo-migration",
  input: {
    repoUrl: "https://github.com/your-org/your-repo",
    migration: "pages-router-to-app-router",
  },
  model: { primary: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-8" },
  budget: { maxCostUsd: 10.00 },
  checkpoints: ["plan-approved", "diff-approved"],
})

// The task pauses at each checkpoint.
// Approve via the dashboard or the SDK:
await task.approveCheckpoint("plan-approved")

from queueai import QueueAI

queue = QueueAI(api_key=os.environ["QUEUEAI_API_KEY"])

task = queue.submit(
    name="repo-migration",
    input={
        "repo_url": "https://github.com/your-org/your-repo",
        "migration": "pages-router-to-app-router",
    },
    model={"primary": "anthropic/claude-opus-4-8"},
    budget={"max_cost_usd": 10.00},
    checkpoints=["plan-approved", "diff-approved"],
)

task.approve_checkpoint("plan-approved")

See it in action: This pattern powers the Repo Migration template in QueueAI.