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Chat UI Recipes

Ask before a tool runs

Set needsApproval: true on the tool. The tool component receives an interrupt prop with the approve and reject actions.

This page covers the UI. For the server side of approvals, read Tool approval.

Full example

tsx
import { fetchServerSentEvents } from '@tanstack/ai-react'
import { createChatHook } from '@tanstack/ai-react/ui'
import { toolDefinition } from '@tanstack/ai'
import { z } from 'zod'

const deleteFile = toolDefinition({
  name: 'deleteFile',
  description: 'Delete a file',
  needsApproval: true,
  inputSchema: z.object({ path: z.string() }),
  outputSchema: z.object({ deleted: z.boolean() }),
}).client()

const chatOptions = {
  connection: fetchServerSentEvents('/api/chat'),
  tools: [deleteFile],
}

const { useAppChat } = createChatHook({
  options: chatOptions,
  components: {
    layout: ({ Messages }) => <main><Messages /></main>,
    message: ({ Parts }) => <article><Parts /></article>,
  },
  partsComponents: {
    text: ({ part }) => <p>{part.content}</p>,
    fallback: () => null,
  },
  toolsComponents: {
    deleteFile: ({ part, interrupt }) => {
      if (interrupt?.status === 'pending') {
        return (
          <div>
            <p>Delete {part.input?.path}?</p>
            <button onClick={() => interrupt.resolveInterrupt(true)}>
              Delete
            </button>
            <button onClick={() => interrupt.resolveInterrupt(false)}>
              Keep
            </button>
          </div>
        )
      }
      if (part.state === 'complete') {
        return <p>{part.output?.deleted ? 'Deleted' : 'Kept'}</p>
      }
      return <p>{part.input?.path}</p>
    },
  },
})

export function FileChat() {
  const chat = useAppChat({ threadId: 'support-chat' })
  return <chat.AppChat />
}

Ask the model to delete a file. The buttons show next to the tool call.

How it works

  • resolveInterrupt(true) approves. resolveInterrupt(false) denies. The run continues in both cases.
  • interrupt.status is 'pending' while the run waits for an answer.
  • interrupt is already the approval for this tool, so you do not check interrupt.kind.

Show approvals in a list

Some apps collect every pending decision in one place. Register the tool name under interruptsComponents.tools. The approval then leaves the message and renders in Interrupts:

tsx
import type { InterruptProps } from '@tanstack/ai-react/ui'

export function DeleteApproval({
  interrupt,
}: InterruptProps<typeof chatOptions, 'deleteFile'>) {
  return (
    <div>
      <p>Delete {interrupt.originalArgs.path}?</p>
      <button onClick={() => interrupt.resolveInterrupt(true)}>Delete</button>
      <button onClick={() => interrupt.resolveInterrupt(false)}>Keep</button>
    </div>
  )
}

Then register it, and render Interrupts in the layout:

tsx
const { useAppChat } = createChatHook({
  options: chatOptions,
  components: {
    layout: ({ Messages, Interrupts }) => (
      <main>
        <Messages />
        <Interrupts />
      </main>
    ),
    message: ({ Parts }) => <article><Parts /></article>,
  },
  partsComponents: { fallback: () => null },
  toolsComponents: {
    deleteFile: ({ part }) => <p>{part.input?.path}</p>,
  },
  interruptsComponents: {
    tools: { deleteFile: DeleteApproval },
  },
})

interrupt.originalArgs holds the arguments that the model proposed. They are typed from the tool inputSchema, so path is a string here.

Pick one place for each tool

  • If you register the tool under interruptsComponents.tools, the approval renders in the list.
  • If you do not, the approval goes to the tool component.

Do not do both for one tool.

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