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Approvals and hand-offs in chat

Some things an agent does need you: approving a tool call, connecting an account, or passing the conversation to someone better placed. This guide covers each.

Answer an approval​

When an agent calls a tool that requires approval, the run pauses and an Approval Required card appears in the transcript. Which tools need approval is set on the function and by your governance policy.

The card shows:

  • the tool name, the agent asking, and the time
  • a risk badge and data classification when the agent or team has one (for example "from the agent's classification")
  • the agent's plain-language request, if it gave one
  • Show arguments to inspect exactly what the tool will be called with

To answer:

  1. Read the request and, if needed, select Show arguments.
  2. Select Approve to let the call run, or Reject to refuse it. The card changes to ✓ Approved or ✕ Rejected and the agent continues.

Approvals you're not looking at​

You don't have to be in the chat to answer:

  • Header badge. The chat icon in the top-right header shows how many of your chats need you or have unread replies. It's amber when at least one approval is waiting.
  • Approvals section. On the Chat page, chats with a pending approval move out of the date groups into an Approvals section at the top of the conversation list. Each row says Wants to run … and has Approve and Reject buttons, so you can answer without opening the chat.
  • Run panel. On the Chat page, the Needs you list in the Run panel has the same buttons.
  • Waiting on you. The amber dot on a conversation means an approval is waiting.

An approval can be answered from any of these places, any browser tab, or the API; the decision reaches the run wherever it is executing.

Connect an account the agent needs​

If an agent needs a service that uses your own sign-in (for example an accounting or code-hosting tool) and you haven't connected it, the agent shows a Connect … card instead of guessing.

  1. Select Connect …. A sign-in window for the provider opens. You have about 10 minutes to finish signing in.
  2. Approve the access the card lists.
  3. The card changes to Connected and the agent continues with your request automatically.

If the pop-up is blocked, use Open the connection page in a new tab. Skip dismisses the card (Skipped — connect later from Integrations.). If the card says Reconnect …, your previous connection expired or was revoked, or the agent now needs extra permissions. Manage connected accounts opens your connections. See Connected accounts.

Hand off a conversation yourself​

Hand off when another agent or team should take over, keeping the context.

  1. In the chat header, select the hand-off button (Hand off to another agent or team). It appears once the chat has started, and not after it has ended.
  2. In Hand off conversation, choose the Agents or Teams tab, search if needed, and select the target.
  3. Optional: Add a note (optional) to brief the new agent (for example "The user needs help with billing details.").
  4. Select Continue with …. Use Back to choose someone else.

FYAI creates a new session with the target, copies the full conversation history into it, and marks the original as handed off. The transcript continues with ↩ Continued from previous conversation · now chatting with …, and the new session appears in your conversation list.

Agent-initiated hand-offs​

An agent can hand a one-to-one conversation to a specialist itself, using the hand_off_to_agent built-in tool. This is how a front-door agent such as a concierge passes you to, say, a dashboard builder so you can watch the specialist work and answer its approvals.

For this to work:

  • the agent must have the hand_off_to_agent built-in tool enabled
  • the target agent must be in the same project, switched on, and listed in the handing agent's Sub-agents settings
  • the chat must be with a single agent, not a team

An agent can hand a conversation on only once; asking again for the same specialist returns the existing hand-off. The UI moves you into the new session exactly as for a manual hand-off.

Hand-offs vs delegations​

Hand-offDelegation
Who you talk to afterwardsThe new agent or teamThe same agent
SessionA new session, with history copiedA child run; results come back to your agent
Where it appearsYour conversation listA delegation card, the Delegation map, and (on the Chat page) View transcript
The other agent's work and approval cardsStream to you in the new chatDon't stream into your chat; you see progress on the delegation card

See Team orchestration patterns for how agents delegate.