> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.celerflow.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Approvals

> Human-in-the-loop pause points where CelerFlow waits for you to act.

Not everything runs untouched. CelerFlow has a few points where it stops and waits for a human before continuing. These aren't friction — they're guardrails that keep workflows from running with missing credentials, wrong targets, or paywalled content the system shouldn't grab on its own.

There are two kinds of human-in-the-loop (HITL): **build-time** gates that pause while you're authoring, and **run-time** handoffs that pause a live run.

## Build-time gates

### 1. Connection gate

If a workflow step needs an app that isn't connected to your team, the [Planner](https://docs.celerflow.ai/concepts/planner.md) pauses before deploying and surfaces a connection card directly in the chat. Connect the app in place and the build resumes. A run is never queued until all required connections are present. See [Connections](https://docs.celerflow.ai/concepts/connections.md).

### 2. Delivery target selection

Before a workflow that writes to a destination like Notion is deployed, the Planner asks which database or page to write into. You must supply a real target — placeholder IDs are validated and rejected, and the Planner asks again until a valid target is confirmed. This prevents workflows from deploying with an unresolved destination. See [Integrations — Notion](https://docs.celerflow.ai/integration/notion.md).

## Run-time handoff

### 3. Browser handoff (institutional access)

The one place a live run pauses for you is the BioMed **browser handoff**. When a workflow needs a PDF that sits behind a paywall or institutional login, the `institutional_access_agent` creates a handoff session and waits. You capture the PDF in your own already-authenticated browser via the CelerFlow extension, and the run resumes automatically. CelerFlow never bypasses a publisher's access controls — the capture happens in your session, on your authority. See [Browser extension](https://docs.celerflow.ai/dashboard/browser-extension.md).

> [!NOTE]
>
> General node-level pause / resume — stopping mid-run for arbitrary step approval — is not available yet. If a run fails, you re-run it from the detail page. The browser handoff above is the only online run-time HITL path today.

## Who can approve

Approval actions are scoped by team role. Only members with a sufficient role can build, deploy, or resolve a gated workflow. See [Teams & roles](https://docs.celerflow.ai/platform/teams-rbac.md) for the full role matrix.


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