# Manual actions

> Manual actions are steps a person has to do outside Harny. The agent hands them off, you mark them complete, and the agent is told.

Some steps cannot be done by the agent. A call, a signature, a grant of access, or a judgment call belongs to a person. The agent hands that step off to you. You do it outside Harny, then mark it complete.

## What a manual action is

A manual action is a step a person must do outside Harny. Examples are a phone call, a signature, giving access to a system, or a judgment call.

The agent does not perform these steps. It creates a handoff that describes what needs doing. You decide when it is finished.

## The lifecycle

1. The agent hands off. It creates a manual action with `POST /v1/handoffs`.
2. You do the step outside Harny.
3. You mark the action complete. This calls `POST /v1/handoffs/{id}/resolve`.
4. The agent is told that the step is complete.

Marking an action complete does not do the step a second time. It also does not create a rule. The next time a similar case comes up, the agent hands off again unless your action settings change.

## Where to find them

In the console, open **Actions**, then **Manual actions**. You reach Automation from the Manual actions page.

## API routes

| Route | Purpose |
|---|---|
| `POST /v1/handoffs` | Create a manual action (the agent does this) |
| `GET /v1/handoffs` | List manual actions |
| `GET /v1/handoffs/{id}` | Read one manual action |
| `POST /v1/handoffs/{id}/resolve` | Mark a manual action complete |

## What completing one does not do

- It does not repeat the step. You already did it.
- It does not create a rule. Future actions follow the settings that already exist.

Harny can offer a change to an action kind's setting when recorded responses support it. You apply the offer or keep the current setting. See [Learning](/docs/agent-harness/learning) for how offers work.

## Next

- [Permissions](/docs/agent-harness/permissions) for the three modes per kind of action
- [Learning](/docs/agent-harness/learning) for offers to change an action setting
- [Overview](/docs/agent-harness/overview) for how the agent loop works