{
  "dataset": "glossary",
  "record": {
    "id": "human-in-the-loop",
    "term": "Human in the Loop",
    "category": "core",
    "short_def": "A design in which a human reviews, approves or corrects an agent's actions at defined checkpoints rather than letting it run fully autonomously.",
    "long_def": "Human-in-the-loop (HITL) inserts a person into the agent's decision cycle — to confirm a high-stakes action (a payment, a delete), label an ambiguous case, or catch an error before it propagates. It trades some autonomy for safety and accountability, and is common where mistakes are costly.",
    "see_also": [
      "delegation",
      "ai-agent",
      "agent-as-buyer"
    ],
    "etymology_origin": {
      "value": null,
      "verify_status": "verify-against-primary-at-build",
      "source_hint": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human-in-the-loop — established in control systems and ML long before LLM agents"
    },
    "related_to": [
      "delegation",
      "ai-agent",
      "agentic-commerce"
    ],
    "contrast_with": "Unlike a fully autonomous agent that acts without asking, a human-in-the-loop agent pauses at defined checkpoints for a person to approve or reject.",
    "example": "An agent authorized to spend money might draft the purchase and require a human's one-click confirmation before the payment is actually sent.",
    "source": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human-in-the-loop",
    "status": "active",
    "why_it_matters": "As agents gain the power to transact on the agentic web, human-in-the-loop checkpoints are the practical control that keeps delegated autonomy safe.",
    "sameAs": [
      "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human-in-the-loop"
    ],
    "bridge_entity": "delegation",
    "last_verified": "2026-07-06",
    "md_twin": "/glossary/human-in-the-loop.md"
  }
}