Pause workflows for approval with Chat SDK

You can build human-in-the-loop approvals with Chat SDK through the new chat/workflow subpath. One requestApproval call posts a card with Approve and Deny buttons and suspends a Workflow SDK workflow until someone decides.

The wait can last seconds or days and survives deploys and restarts. You don't need an approvals table, an onAction handler, or a polling loop:

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import { requestApproval } from "chat/workflow";
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import type { Thread } from "chat";
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export async function deployApproval(opts: { thread: Thread; version: string }) {
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  "use workflow";
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  const { approved, user, timedOut } = await requestApproval(opts.thread, {
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    title: `Deploy Website?`,
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    fields: { Version: opts.version },
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    timeout: "24h",
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  });
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  if (approved) {
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    await deploy(opts.version);
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  }
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}

Start the workflow from any handler, and Thread instances serialize across the workflow boundary automatically. The card handles the rest:

• Scoped approvers: Pass approvers to restrict who can decide. Clicks from anyone else post a notice, and the workflow keeps waiting.

• Verified decisions: Chat SDK checks the platform's signature on every click, so the user.id on the result is the person who decided.

• Audit trail: Once a decision lands or the timeout elapses, the card is edited in place with an outcome line, preventing stale clicks.

Get started by reading the approvals documentation.