GUIDE · PERMISSIONS & OVERSIGHT
Before an agent acts, define its boundaries.
An agent returning an answer and an agent changing a record carry different responsibilities. Moving from information to action requires explicit decisions about who may do what, under which conditions and how the result is checked.
Separate three levels of involvement
Reading retrieves information from an authorized source. Proposing describes a possible action for a person to consider. Execution changes system state. Select the level each workflow needs rather than treating full autonomy as a prerequisite. Information and proposals can be evaluated before broader action permissions are considered.
Identify the acting identity
Define the identity executing an action, its permissions and who owns permission changes. Understanding context does not grant authority. Check access in the source system and ensure the scope matches the role and task, including cases where a user changes responsibilities.
Define when approval is required
Approval belongs inside the workflow. Define the approver, what evidence they receive and what happens if they do not respond or information is insufficient. In an illustrative scenario, an agent prepares a change request, while the process owner reviews its impact before execution.
Verify what actually happened
Sending a request to a system does not prove completion. The design should verify the result and handle partial success. Define how duplicate actions are avoided, who resolves inconsistencies between systems and what information is needed to reconstruct the sequence.
Plan stopping and recovery
Not every action can be undone. Assess whether it can be stopped, corrected or compensated for, and who is authorized to do so. Where no safe recovery path exists, execution can remain with a person while the agent prepares information and a recommendation.
Translate principles into a product-specific scope
This is a planning framework, not a claim that every product includes every control. During a fit assessment, identify mechanisms provided by the product, controls enforced by the source system and steps requiring an organizational process. Agree on gaps and owners before enabling actions in the working environment.
THE NEXT STEP
Which action would you like to evaluate?
Define the source, acting identity, approval and verification before connecting an action to the workflow.