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Human in the Loop: How Teammates Ask for Help in Slack

Teammates are designed to work autonomously—but sometimes, they need a human. When that happens, they reach out in Slack (or other chat platforms) where you’re already working. This page explains when and how those check-ins happen, and what you can expect.

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Where You’ll See Requests

When a Teammate needs help, you’ll get a message in Slack from the Teammate directly. It will include:

  • A clear explanation of what it needs
  • The context of the task it’s working on
  • Action buttons or suggested replies to make it easy to respond
  • A link to view the full task or history if needed

These messages respect your notification preferences. If you’ve muted channels or snoozed alerts, the Teammate won’t bypass those settings.

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When Teammates Ask for Help

Teammates reach out for help in three main situations:

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1. Task is Underspecified or Ambiguous

If the task is missing key details or has ambiguous instructions, the Teammate will pause and ask for clarification.

Examples:

  • “Email the customer” → Which customer?
  • “Use the latest copy” → Where’s the copy stored?
  • “Follow up on the issue” → Which issue? What should the follow-up say?

In these cases, the Teammate will send you a message like:

“Hey! I’m trying to email the customer, but the task doesn’t specify who. Can you clarify?”

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2. A Step Requires Human Approval

Some tasks involve actions where human approval is required before proceeding—especially anything customer-facing or high-impact.

Examples:

  • Publishing a blog post or marketing content
  • Sending an email campaign
  • Updating CRM records in bulk
  • Making an online purchase over

In these cases, the Teammate will say something like:

“I’ve drafted this email campaign to inactive users. Can you review and approve it before I send?”

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3. Teammate Hits a Blocker

If something’s preventing the Teammate from finishing the task—like a missing permission, API error, or required input—it will reach out instead of failing silently.

Examples:

  • Missing login credentials
  • No access to a required doc or spreadsheet
  • System error while trying to complete a step

The Slack message might look like:

“I tried to update the report in Google Sheets, but it looks like I don’t have access. Can you grant permission or upload the file another way?”

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What to Do When You Get a Request

You can respond directly in chat:

  • Answer the question directly in chat
  • Approve, or reject with feedback
  • Tag someone else to help
  • Click through to the dashboard for full context

Once you reply, the Teammate will pick up where it left off and continue the task.