Write an Approval Boundary Before Letting an AI Agent Work

An agent task should say what completion looks like and where the agent must stop. “Handle this project” leaves too much room for interpretation. Write the permitted actions and the approval boundary before giving the tool access to a real workflow.

Work through an example

For a fictional newsletter, allow the assistant to organise public research, draft copy and prepare a preview. Reserve sending the newsletter and changing its recipient list for a separate decision. A prepared email is not a sent email; use those words consistently in the progress report.

List the files or accounts in scope, the material that must be preserved and the evidence you expect after each action. Require the assistant to identify missing information instead of expanding its access or substituting a different account.

Check the result

Review the actual prepared result at the boundary. Check recipients, links and the final content rather than approving an abstract plan that may change later. If you revise the scope, record the new instruction clearly.

After completion, inspect the real service state and retain a concise action log. A stated boundary is a workflow instruction, not a replacement for the product's permissions or security controls. Start with a reversible, low-impact task to understand how the tool reports its actions.