pydantic-ai-blocking-approval 0.5.0

Synchronous, blocking approval system for PydanticAI agent tools

pydantic-ai-blocking-approval

Synchronous, blocking approval system for PydanticAI agent tools.

Status: This package is experimental. The core wrapper (ApprovalToolset, ApprovalController) is more mature, while pattern-based approval via needs_approval() is highly experimental and likely to change. See design motivation for details.

Why This Package?

PydanticAI provides DeferredToolRequests for human-in-the-loop approval, but it's designed for asynchronous, out-of-band approval flows. This package provides an alternative for synchronous, blocking approval - a fundamentally different pattern.

PydanticAI's Deferred Tools (async/out-of-band)

Agent Run → Returns with pending tools → [Time passes] → User approves via API/webhook → Resume agent

The deferred pattern is ideal when:

• User isn't present during execution (web apps, background jobs)
• Approval happens out-of-band (email links, admin dashboards, Slack buttons)
• Hours or days may pass between request and approval
• You need to serialize/persist the pending state

Blocking Approval (this package)

Agent Run → Tool needs approval → [Blocks] → User prompted immediately → [Decides] → Execution continues

The blocking pattern is ideal when:

• User is present at the terminal (CLI tools, interactive sessions)
• Approval must happen immediately, inline with execution
• The agent run should complete in one continuous session
• You want simple "approve and continue" UX without state management

Comparison

Aspect	Deferred (PydanticAI)	Blocking (this package)
Execution	Agent run completes, returns pending	Agent run pauses mid-execution
Timing	Minutes to days between request/approval	Immediate, synchronous
User presence	Not required during execution	Must be present
State	Must serialize/persist pending state	No state management needed
Resume	Explicit resume call with decisions	Automatic after user input
Best for	Web apps, APIs, async workflows	CLI tools, interactive sessions

Why Blocking Matters for Dangerous Actions

Consider: you ask the agent to "find and kill the process hogging port 8080."

With deferred approval:

Agent run completes with pending actions:
  1. shell_exec("lsof -i :8080")    ← Needs approval (shell access)

Agent run ends here - LLM can't plan further because it doesn't
know what process is using the port until the command runs.

You approve... command shows PID 1234 (node). But the agent didn't
plan the kill command. You need a new conversation to continue.

The problem: the dangerous action (shell access) produces information the LLM needs to plan the next step. With deferred approval, it can't proceed.

With blocking approval:

Agent: I'll find what's using port 8080.

[APPROVAL REQUIRED] shell_exec("lsof -i :8080")
[y/n/s]: y

Output: node (PID 1234)

Agent: Found it - node process 1234. I'll kill it.

[APPROVAL REQUIRED] shell_exec("kill 1234")
[y/n/s]: y

Done! Process killed, port 8080 is now free.

The key difference: with blocking, the LLM sees the result of each approved action and plans accordingly. With deferred, dangerous actions that produce information block all further progress.

Architecture Overview

ApprovalToolset (unified wrapper)
    ├── intercepts call_tool()
    ├── auto-detects if inner implements SupportsNeedsApproval
    │   ├── YES: delegates to inner.needs_approval()
    │   └── NO: uses config[tool_name]["pre_approved"]
    ├── consults ApprovalMemory for cached decisions
    ├── calls approval_callback and BLOCKS until user decides
    └── proceeds or raises PermissionError

ApprovalController (manages modes)
    ├── interactive — prompts user via callback
    ├── approve_all — auto-approve (testing)
    └── strict — auto-deny (safety)

How it works: ApprovalToolset automatically detects whether your inner toolset implements the SupportsNeedsApproval protocol. If it does, approval decisions are delegated to inner.needs_approval(). Otherwise, it falls back to config-based approval (secure by default).

Note on async: The toolset methods are async because PydanticAI's AbstractToolset interface requires it. The "blocking" refers to the approval_callback — a synchronous function that blocks the coroutine until the user decides. So async def call_tool() awaits the inner toolset, but the approval prompt in the middle is synchronous and blocking.

Installation

pip install pydantic-ai-blocking-approval

Quick Start

from pydantic_ai import Agent
from pydantic_ai_blocking_approval import (
    ApprovalController,
    ApprovalDecision,
    ApprovalRequest,
    ApprovalToolset,
)

# Create a callback for interactive approval
def my_approval_callback(request: ApprovalRequest) -> ApprovalDecision:
    print(f"Approve {request.tool_name}? {request.description}")
    response = input("[y/n/s(ession)]: ")
    if response == "s":
        return ApprovalDecision(approved=True, remember="session")
    return ApprovalDecision(approved=response.lower() == "y")

# Wrap your toolset with approval using per-tool config
controller = ApprovalController(mode="interactive", approval_callback=my_approval_callback)
approved_toolset = ApprovalToolset(
    inner=my_toolset,
    approval_callback=controller.approval_callback,
    memory=controller.memory,
    config={
        "safe_tool": {"pre_approved": True},
        # All other tools require approval (secure by default)
    },
)

# Use with PydanticAI agent
agent = Agent(..., toolsets=[approved_toolset])

Approval Modes

The ApprovalController supports three modes:

Mode	Behavior	Use Case
interactive	Prompts user via callback	CLI with user present
approve_all	Auto-approves all requests	Testing, CI
strict	Auto-denies all requests	Production safety

# For testing - auto-approve everything
controller = ApprovalController(mode="approve_all")

# For CI/production - reject all approval-required operations
controller = ApprovalController(mode="strict")

Integration Patterns

Pattern 1: Config-Based (Simple Inner Toolsets)

For simple inner toolsets, specify which tools skip approval via the config parameter:

approved_toolset = ApprovalToolset(
    inner=my_toolset,
    approval_callback=my_approval_callback,
    config={
        "get_time": {"pre_approved": True},
        "list_files": {"pre_approved": True},
        "get_weather": {"pre_approved": True},
        # All other tools require approval (secure by default)
    },
)

Tools with pre_approved: True skip approval. Tools not in config require approval by default (secure by default).

Pattern 2: Protocol-Based (Smart Inner Toolsets)

For inner toolsets with custom approval logic, implement SupportsNeedsApproval:

from pydantic_ai.toolsets.abstract import AbstractToolset
from pydantic_ai_blocking_approval import ApprovalToolset, SupportsNeedsApproval

class MySmartToolset(AbstractToolset):
    """Inner toolset with custom approval logic (implements SupportsNeedsApproval)."""

    SAFE_COMMANDS = {"ls", "pwd", "echo", "date"}

    def needs_approval(self, name: str, tool_args: dict) -> bool | dict:
        if name == "safe_tool":
            return False

        # Custom logic for shell_exec
        if name == "shell_exec":
            command = tool_args.get("command", "")
            base_cmd = command.split()[0] if command else ""

            if base_cmd in self.SAFE_COMMANDS:
                return False  # Safe command

            return {"description": f"Execute: {command}"}

        return True  # Default: require approval

    # ... other toolset methods ...

# ApprovalToolset auto-detects needs_approval and delegates to it
approved = ApprovalToolset(
    inner=MySmartToolset(),
    approval_callback=my_callback,
)

Session Approval Caching

When users approve with remember="session", subsequent identical requests are auto-approved:

# First call - prompts user
# User selects "approve for session"
decision = ApprovalDecision(approved=True, remember="session")

# Subsequent identical calls - auto-approved from cache
# (same tool_name + tool_args)

The cache key is (tool_name, tool_args).

API Reference

Types

• ApprovalRequest - Request object when approval is needed
• ApprovalDecision - User's decision (approved, note, remember)
• SupportsNeedsApproval - Protocol for toolsets with custom approval logic

Classes

• ApprovalMemory - Session cache for "approve for session"
• ApprovalToolset - Unified wrapper (auto-detects inner toolset capabilities)
• ApprovalController - Mode-based controller

License

MIT