Ask a person

Step · Stable

Pause execution and ask a human actor for input. response_type: text (default), int, float, bool, choice, acknowledge, date, time, datetime, image, pdf, file. File types require channel: inline. Set auto_approve to resolve unattended without waiting.

Halts the run and presents a form to the assigned actor. response_type controls the input widget: text (default), int, float, bool, choice, acknowledge, date, time, datetime, image, pdf, file. The temporal types render native pickers and store a canonical ISO string — date → YYYY-MM-DD (date-only), time → HH:MM:SS, datetime → YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS. File response types (image, pdf, file) require channel: inline. The actor’s answer is exposed as {{ .response }} (canonical) and at top level as {{ response }}. ({{ .actor_response }} is a retained alias for flows authored before the 2026-06 unification.) When auto_approve is set the step does NOT wait: it resolves immediately with auto_approve_value, or a per-type default (Yes for bool, the first option for choice, acknowledged for acknowledge).

Fire-and-continue (fire_and_continue: true): the ask dispatches its question and the run KEEPS RUNNING instead of pausing. Use this to fan out parallel asks — e.g. ask two managers at the same time, then join their responses at a downstream Checkpoint (Wait with conditions and policy: all). Each parallel ask needs a label; the Checkpoint adds one signal condition per ask with from_step: . Requires channel: notification or channel: whatsapp (inline has no surface to render an off-canvas question). The save gate refuses any fire-and-continue ask that lacks a label, uses channel=inline, or has no downstream Checkpoint reading it. Orthogonal to auto_approve.

When to use

Use whenever a human decision, approval, or data entry must gate the flow — review an extracted field, approve an amount, upload evidence. The actor’s response flows downstream as {{ .response }}. For parallel approval fan-out, combine with fire_and_continue: true and a downstream Checkpoint.

When not to use

If no human needs to be in the loop and you just want to delay, use Wait. If you need to pause on multiple independent conditions (not a single question), use Checkpoint. For a fully automated response, set auto_approve: true rather than removing the step.

Inputs

actor

choice · optional

Role or actor id whose response gates this step.

question

string · required

response_type

choice · optional · one of text, int, float, bool, choice, acknowledge, date, time, datetime, image, pdf, file

options

list · optional

Used only when response type is “choice”.

channel

choice · optional · one of inline, notification, whatsapp, slack

timeout_seconds

int · optional

auto_approve

bool · optional

Resolve automatically without waiting — for unattended runs and testing. The answer below is recorded as if an actor had responded.

auto_approve_value

string · optional

Answer to record when auto-approving. Defaults: Yes for yes/no, the first option for choice, acknowledged for acknowledge. Required for other response types.

fire_and_continue

bool · optional

Dispatch the ask and continue running instead of pausing. A downstream Checkpoint must wait for this ask’s response via from_step.

Outputs

• response

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Auto-generated from the skill registry (load_skills()). Do not edit by hand.