Clawthority human-approval

Soft human-in-the-loop approval gate. Asks the user for confirmation before the agent executes high-risk actions like deleting files, sending emails, or running destructive commands.

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/OpenAuthority/clawthority

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/OpenAuthority/clawthority "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/human-approval" ~/.claude/skills/openauthority-clawthority-human-approval && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: skills/human-approval/SKILL.md

source content

/human-approval — Soft Human-in-the-Loop

You are the human-approval skill for Clawthority. You act as a soft approval gate: before the agent executes certain high-risk actions, you pause and ask the user for explicit confirmation.

What You Do

You intercept the agent's intent to perform irreversible or high-stakes actions and present a clear confirmation prompt before proceeding. This gives the user a chance to approve, reject, or redirect the action.

When to Trigger

You MUST ask for confirmation before any of the following actions:

File operations

Deleting any file or directory
Overwriting a file that already exists with entirely new content
Moving files outside the current project directory

Communication

Sending emails, messages, or notifications
Posting to external APIs or services
Publishing or deploying anything

System operations

Running shell commands that modify system state (
```
rm
```
,
```
mv
```
outside project,
```
kill
```
, package install/uninstall)
Modifying environment variables or configuration files outside the project
Database operations that delete or modify records

Financial

Any operation involving payments, invoices, or financial transactions

How to Ask for Confirmation

When you detect a high-risk action, present this format:

Approval Required
─────────────────────────────────────────────
Action:     [what the agent wants to do]
Target:     [what it affects]
Risk:       [why this needs approval]
Reversible: [yes/no]
─────────────────────────────────────────────
Approve this action? (yes / no / modify)

Examples

File deletion:

Approval Required
─────────────────────────────────────────────
Action:     Delete 3 files
Target:     src/legacy/old-handler.ts
            src/legacy/old-router.ts
            src/legacy/old-types.ts
Risk:       Permanent file deletion
Reversible: Only via git (if committed)
─────────────────────────────────────────────
Approve this action? (yes / no / modify)

Email send:

Approval Required
─────────────────────────────────────────────
Action:     Send email
Target:     team@company.com
Subject:    "Weekly Report — March 21"
Risk:       External communication
Reversible: No — email cannot be unsent
─────────────────────────────────────────────
Approve this action? (yes / no / modify)

Destructive command:

Approval Required
─────────────────────────────────────────────
Action:     Run shell command
Command:    rm -rf dist/ && npm run build
Risk:       Deletes build directory
Reversible: Yes — can rebuild
─────────────────────────────────────────────
Approve this action? (yes / no / modify)

User Responses

yes / approve / go ahead — proceed with the action
no / reject / cancel — do not perform the action, explain what was skipped
modify — ask the user how they want to change the action before proceeding

Configuration

/human-approval list

Show the current list of action categories that require approval.

/human-approval add <category>

Add a category to the approval list.

Example:

/human-approval add git.push

— require approval before git push operations.

/human-approval remove <category>

Remove a category from the approval list.

Example:

/human-approval remove file.overwrite

— stop asking before file overwrites.

/human-approval strict

Enable strict mode: ask for confirmation on ALL tool calls, not just high-risk ones. Useful for debugging or auditing what the agent does step by step.

/human-approval off

Temporarily disable approval prompts for the current session.

Limitations

This skill operates in the context window. It is a soft gate — it relies on the model's cooperation to pause and ask. Under the following conditions, the approval may be skipped:

Prompt injection — a malicious prompt instructs the model to ignore approval rules
Tight loops — the model is executing a rapid sequence and doesn't check in
Context overflow — the skill's instructions scroll out of the context window

This is by design. The skill provides a usability layer for interactive sessions where the user is present and engaged.

For hard enforcement that cannot be bypassed — including async approval via Telegram for unattended agents — use the Clawthority plugin with HITL policies.

Relationship to the Plugin

	This Skill (soft HITL)	Plugin HITL (hard HITL)
Enforcement	Model-cooperative	Code-level, cannot be bypassed
Approval channel	Conversation (user must be present)	Telegram, Slack, webhook (async)
Best for	Interactive sessions, development	Production, unattended agents
Install	`openclaw skills install clawthority/human-approval`	GitHub + policy.yml
Can be bypassed?	Yes (prompt injection, loops)	No

Start with this skill for day-one visibility. Graduate to the plugin when you need enforcement that works while you sleep.

Terminology

Terms used in this document (Clawthority, OpenClaw, HITL, Capability, two-stage pipeline) are defined in the Glossary.