# Interrupt

> A deliberate pause inside an agent workflow that waits for external input before continuing.

- Category: Agents & Autonomy
- Stage: Rising
- Also called: Pause point, Mid-task approval
- Canonical: https://www.joelcsaji.com/ai-dictionary/interrupt

## Plain English

The agent stops at the important moment, asks for the missing decision, then continues with the answer.

## Example

A refund agent pauses before issuing credit and asks a manager to approve the amount.

## Why it matters

Interrupts make human guidance possible during the work, not only after the agent has already acted.

## Related

- [Human-in-the-Loop](https://www.joelcsaji.com/ai-dictionary/human-in-the-loop)
- [Durable Execution](https://www.joelcsaji.com/ai-dictionary/durable-execution)
- [Approval Gate](https://www.joelcsaji.com/ai-dictionary/approval-gate)

## Sources

- [LangGraph: Interrupts](https://docs.langchain.com/oss/python/langgraph/interrupts)
- [OpenAI: Agents SDK](https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/agents-sdk)