Approval gates keep humans in control of risky or external steps. They are part of the same queue that drives execution.
When a gate appears
During planning, the risk phase flags steps that need approval before they run. Typical examples:
- changes that touch sensitive code or infrastructure,
- external actions such as publishing or sending messages,
- steps that need a human decision before they proceed.
How approval works
- The task is paused at the gate.
- You review the proposed change and its context.
- You approve to let it continue, or reject and adjust the queue.
- The decision is recorded on the run record with who and when.
Consistency across modes
Approvals behave the same in local, cloud, and hybrid runs. The only difference is where the work executes, not how consent is captured.
Why it matters
Approval gates prevent silent external actions and keep a clear line between what Coder can do automatically and what needs a person. The audit trail shows every approval alongside the change it enabled.
Related
- Risk is identified in the [task queue](/docs/coder-task-queues).
- See the [security model](/docs/coder-security) behind approvals.
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