Human-in-the-loop workflows

Use the human-in-the-loop pattern to pause a workflow run and hand control to a person. The workflow generates a signal URL, sends it to a notification destination (Microsoft Teams, Slack, or email), and waits. When the person clicks the URL and sends a signal, the workflow resumes and routes to the next step based on the signal received.

This pattern combines three parts that must work together:

• newrelic.notification.createSignalUrl — generates the URL a person clicks to send a signal.
• A notification action (newrelic.notification.* or slack.chat.postMessage) — delivers the URL to the person.
• A wait step with at least one signal — pauses the run and defines how each signal routes execution.

How the pattern works

1. Create the signal URL. The newrelic.notification.createSignalUrl action takes a waitStepName and returns a url output pointing at the wait step's signals.
2. Send the URL to a person. A notification action sends the url output to a destination such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, or email.
3. Wait for a signal. The wait step pauses the run for the duration set by its seconds input, up to a maximum of 86400 seconds / 1 day. If you don't set seconds, the 86400-second default applies. During this window, the person clicks the URL, which opens the run in the New Relic UI and shows a pop-up listing the available signals. If they aren't signed in, they sign in first, then land on the run and select a signal to send.
4. Route based on the signal. Each signal in the wait step defines a next step. The signal received determines which branch the workflow runs. The signal must be sent before the wait step's duration ends (and within the workflow's overall 7-day maximum); otherwise the wait step's next step runs as the timeout path.

Example: approval workflow

This workflow creates an approval URL, sends it to a Microsoft Teams channel, and waits up to 1 hour and 5 minutes for an approve or deny signal. If neither arrives, it routes to a timeout handler.

name: humanInTheLoopDemo
steps:
  - name: createApprovalUrls
    type: action
    action: newrelic.notification.createSignalUrl
    version: 1
    inputs:
      waitStepName: waitForApproval
  - name: newrelicNotificationMsTeam
    type: action
    action: newrelic.notification.sendMicrosoftTeams
    version: 1
    inputs:
      destinationId: acc24dc2-d4fc-4eba-a7b4-b3ad0170f8aa
      channel: "dev-channel"
      teamName: "dev-team"
      message: "To approve continue at: ${{ .steps.createApprovalUrls.outputs.url }}"
  - name: waitForApproval
    type: wait
    seconds: 3900 # 1 hour 5 minutes
    signals:
      - name: "approve"
        next: logApproval
      - name: "deny"
        next: logDenial
    next: handleTimeout

In this example:

• createApprovalUrls generates the signal URL for the waitForApproval step.
• newrelicNotificationMsTeam sends the url output to a Teams channel using ${{ .steps.createApprovalUrls.outputs.url }}.
• waitForApproval pauses the run. An approve signal routes to logApproval, a deny signal routes to logDenial, and a timeout routes to handleTimeout.

Monitor and resolve a paused run

While a run is paused at a wait step, it appears in the workflow's Run history tab with a run status of Awaiting human approval.

You can resolve the run in two ways:

• Signal URL: The person clicks the URL sent by the notification action, which opens a pop-up on the run, and selects a signal (for example, approve or deny). If they close the pop-up accidentally, they can still send a signal from the Run history tab using the run's ID.
• Run history UI: In the workflow's Run history tab, open the run's actions menu (···) and select Resolve workflow action to send a signal directly. The same menu also lets you View logs, Run workflow again, or Stop workflow.

Once a signal is received, the run resumes and routes to the next step defined for that signal.

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