Until now, Fin had two options: resolve the conversation, or hand the whole thing over. With Human in the Loop, there’s a third. When a conversation needs a review, some information, or an approval, Fin asks a teammate for exactly what it’s missing, with the context and a draft reply ready to go. Once the teammate answers, Fin writes and sends the final reply and owns the resolution. For your customer, it’s one continuous conversation.
Note:
Human in the Loop is currently in beta and available on email and chat with the Intercom helpdesk.
In Escalation Rules, Human in the Loop is called Ask for input; in the inbox view it's Needs teammate input (in the Fin for Service folder); in reporting it's Human in the loop.
Why use Human in the Loop?
Most teams hold Fin back from some conversations for one of three reasons. Human in the Loop is built for all three:
Sensitive topics. Refunds, payments, account changes, anything you don't want sent without a person's sign-off. Fin drafts the reply and asks a teammate to approve the decision.
Complex conversations. Exceptions, judgment calls, several questions at once. Fin drafts what it can and asks a teammate for the one decision Fin can't make.
Data Fin can't reach. The status of an order, a booking or a payment that lives in a system Fin isn't connected to. Fin asks a teammate to check, then finishes the answer with the real detail.
What your team gets out of it:
One decision instead of the whole conversation. These are conversations your team would have received anyway as a handover. Now a teammate answers one question and Fin does the rest.
Your team stays in control. A teammate can take over at any time, with the full context.
Fin needs your team less over time. Every answer shows you what Fin is missing. Add the fact to Fin's knowledge, or connect the data, and lower the threshold as Fin's drafts prove right. Human in the Loop is the bridge from handing a topic over to Fin resolving the topic itself.
Human in the Loop in Escalation Rules vs in Procedures
This article covers Ask for input on escalation rules: you set the conditions, and Fin works out what to ask. Procedures have their own Human in the Loop step, where you write the exact question at the exact point in the procedure. If you know precisely when a teammate is needed, use a procedure. To catch everything else on a topic, use a rule.
How it works
For every answer Fin is about to send, Fin assigns a confidence score. Teammates see it as a badge on Fin's draft, from Low to Very High.
If the conversation matches your rule and Fin's confidence is under the threshold you set, Fin holds the answer. The threshold is how sensitive the rule is: higher means Fin asks more often, and at High Fin checks every matching answer. Human in the Loop only applies to answers. If Fin's reply is an offer to hand over (for example, because the customer is upset or asks for a person), Fin hands over as usual and doesn't ask a teammate.
Fin assigns the conversation to the teammate or team in the rule and asks a question in the Inbox. Fin works out the question itself, from the customer's message, Fin's draft and Fin's knowledge: for example a booking reference Fin can't look up, or a sign-off on a draft Fin is unsure about. You don't write the questions.
The teammate sees Fin's original draft, Fin's confidence (click Show reasoning for why), and an Answer Fin's question panel with exactly what Fin needs. Conversations waiting for an answer are listed under Fin for Service › Needs teammate input in the Inbox.
Meanwhile, the customer:
On chat: sees "Let me check with the team. I'll be back shortly." The customer can keep typing; each new message is checked the same way.
On email: gets nothing until Fin replies.
The teammate can:
Approve original solution: Fin sends the draft as written.
Give Fin an answer: type the fact or decision Fin needs and click Submit. Fin writes a new draft and shows the new draft to the teammate before sending. The teammate clicks Approve to send the new draft. Not quite right? Click Edit on the answer, or tell Fin what to change (for example "add the price of the plan"), and Fin rewrites the draft.
Other options › Take over from Fin: pick a reason, and the conversation is assigned to the teammate, with the full context. Fin stops replying.
When the answer is sent, Fin unassigns the teammate and carries on with the conversation. If the customer asks something else, Fin checks Fin's next reply the same way, so Fin may ask again. A new question on the same conversation goes straight to the teammate who answered the first one.
Important: If you set a time limit and nobody answers in time, Fin sends Fin's original draft as written. If you choose to wait indefinitely, the conversation waits until a teammate answers.
What your customer sees on chat
When | Your customer sees |
Fin is waiting for a teammate | "Let me check with the team. I'll be back shortly." The message box stays available. |
The teammate approves or answers | Fin's reply, in the same conversation, from Fin |
The teammate takes over | "Waiting for a teammate" with the teammate's photo, then "[Teammate] joined the conversation" and the teammate's reply |
Time runs out | Fin's original draft, from Fin |
The customer closes the Messenger while Fin waits | Nothing is lost: the reply is waiting when the customer opens the Messenger again |
Note: Customers on email see nothing until Fin replies.
Set it up
Go to Fin AI Agent › Train › Escalation and click + New under Rules.
Name the rule and set the conditions under When. A new rule applies to Chat, Email by default, and one rule can cover both channels. Untick a channel only if you want different settings per channel, for example a shorter time limit on chat. Add conditions with + Add condition, for example a Fin attribute such as Topic is Cancellations & refunds. Keep your first rule to one or two topics.
Under Fin will, choose Ask for input (a new rule starts on Hand over).
Configure:
Threshold: "Fin will ask for input when its confidence is below this threshold." The slider goes from Low to High, and a new rule starts on Low. The threshold is how sensitive the rule is: higher means Fin asks more often. Choose High to have every matching answer checked while you start, and lower it once your team approves most drafts unchanged.
Who to ask: a new rule asks All teammates. Pick a teammate or a team inbox who will actually watch Needs teammate input: for example a dedicated team, your senior teammates only, or everyone on shift. See "Who gets the question" below.
Time limit: "After asking your teammates for an input, Fin will…" either Wait for a response indefinitely, or send its original draft after a number of hours and minutes. A new rule sends the draft after 24 hours. The chip shows Proceed after [time], or Set a time limit when Fin waits indefinitely.
Click Save, then Enable.
To test, send a calm question on the rule's topic that Fin can answer from your content, then check the question appears in Needs teammate input. Don't test with an angry message or "can I talk to someone?" as Fin will offer a handover instead of asking.
Tip: You can also set up Human in the Loop in the Fin step in Workflows. Already hand over a topic where your team usually just confirms something? Switch that rule's Fin will to Ask for input.
Who gets the question
Fin assigns the conversation to the teammate or team in the rule ("Fin assigned you" in the conversation).
If the rule asks a team, the team's usual assignment method applies, for example round robin or balanced assignment.
If Fin asks again on the same conversation, the new question goes straight to the teammate who answered the first one, skipping the team's assignment.
When the answer is sent, Fin unassigns the teammate.
When a teammate takes over, the conversation stays assigned to that teammate.
Best practices
Human in the Loop works best as a confidence gate with an owner: a precise rule, a named person or online team watching the questions, and teammates who answer Fin rather than rewrite Fin. The most common ways it goes wrong are a rule on everything at the highest threshold (a human in front of Fin, not in the loop), nobody watching the queue so time limits decide, and teammates taking over without giving Fin anything.
Start with what you hand over today. Pick a topic your team already gets as a handover, where the teammate usually just confirms something. Switching that rule's Fin will to Ask for input is the quickest win: your team gets the same conversations, with a draft and one question instead of a blank reply.
Start narrow, especially on chat. One topic per rule, on one brand or audience first. A rule on every conversation at High turns Fin into a triage inbox: your team reviews everything, including answers Fin was already getting right.
Name an owner. Ask a specific teammate or a team that's online, and make sure someone owns Needs teammate input. If nobody answers, the time limit decides, and Fin's original draft goes out unreviewed.
Set the time limit longer than your team's usual time to answer. The Human in the loop report shows average time to action per teammate. If drafts keep going out after the time limit, lengthen the limit or wait indefinitely.
Pick an approach. Ask only when unsure: a topic rule at a middle threshold. Check everything: a precise rule at High, for sensitive topics or while you're new to Fin. Plan to move from the second to the first.
Train your team to answer, not rewrite. Taking over without giving Fin anything costs almost as much as handling the email yourself, and teaches Fin nothing. If one sentence would fix the draft, give Fin the sentence. Pick 2–3 champions and walk through real examples. The key message: you're briefing Fin, not replying to a ticket.
Check Fin's new draft before approving. Fin combines your answer with your content, so read the new draft before you click Approve, especially when your answer is an exception to the usual policy.
Teach Fin. If your team keeps giving the same fact, add the fact to Fin's knowledge (articles, including internal ones, guidance or procedures), or add a data connector so Fin can look the fact up. If you use Operator, ask Operator what your team's answers show Fin is missing.
Give a rule about a week of conversations before you judge the rule.
Then lower the threshold. If your team approves most drafts without changes, lower the threshold one step so Fin answers those conversations itself, and check again two weeks later. If Fin's resolution rate holds, lower the threshold again. Each step down means Fin asks less often.
Don't build rules on upset customers. Fin offers upset customers a handover, so a rule on angry sentiment almost never asks.
Check for overlap with your existing escalation rules and guidance, and turn off rules that never fire.
If Fin is weak on a topic, fix the content first. Where Fin's knowledge is thin, the human-checked answers resolve far better than Fin alone, but that's your team propping Fin up. Add the content, then lower the threshold.
Where Human in the Loop works
✅ Human in the Loop works with Escalation Rules on email and chat, in conversations Fin is part of.
❌ Human in the Loop does not work with Escalation Guidance (writing "ask a teammate if…" won't trigger a question for a teammate to review).
Human in the Loop on chat
Use Human in the Loop on chats you already hand over. Your team would get these chats anyway, and the customer would wait for a handover anyway. With Human in the Loop, your teammate makes one decision and Fin finishes the conversation. Don't add chat to rules that cover topics Fin already resolves on its own.
One rule can cover chat and email. Add chat to an existing email rule only if the same topics and the same time limit make sense on both; otherwise make a separate chat rule.
Your customer is waiting live. The teammate sees a countdown on the question when you set a time limit. A short limit (for example 5 minutes) means the customer never waits long, but Fin sends Fin's original draft unreviewed when time runs out. Waiting indefinitely means every reply is checked, but the customer waits as long as your team takes. Choose a short limit for topics where Fin's drafts are usually right, and wait indefinitely only where your team is online and quick.
Route questions to a team that's online during chat hours, and make sure everyone on the team knows how to answer before you switch Human in the Loop on.
Human in the Loop on email
The customer sees nothing until Fin replies.
Waiting indefinitely means nothing goes out unreviewed, but the customer waits until someone answers. If you set a time limit, set it longer than your team's usual response time: when time runs out Fin sends Fin's original draft without a review. The Human in the Loop report shows your team's average time to action.
Troubleshooting
Rule isn't firing: is the rule enabled? Does the channel match? Does the conversation reach a Let Fin handle step in your Fin workflow? Is the threshold low? Set it to High to test: at High Fin asks on every matching answer.
The rule matched but Fin didn't ask: either Fin was confident, or Fin's reply was an offer to hand over rather than an answer. Handover offers skip the confidence check, so they never trigger a question. Fin offers a handover when the customer sounds upset, asks for a person, or asks something your content doesn't cover. Open the conversation to see which one happened.
Too many questions: lower the threshold, narrow the conditions, or add the missing information to Fin's knowledge.
Lots of drafts sent after the time limit: nobody's watching. Check Who to ask is a person or an online team, lengthen the time limit, or wait indefinitely.
Teammates mostly take over: show teammates Give Fin an answer in the teammate guide. If they take over because the draft is wrong on a whole topic, fix the content for that topic.
Every matching conversation asks, even good ones: the threshold is at High on a broad rule. Narrow the conditions or lower the threshold one step.
Finding past Human in the Loop conversations: Needs teammate input only shows questions still waiting. For all Human in the Loop conversations, open the Human in the loop report and drill in.
Billing
There's no additional charge for Human in the Loop. Billing stays per resolution, and the usual resolution rules apply: you're charged when the conversation becomes a Fin resolution (the customer confirms the answer helped, or doesn't ask anything else or leave negative feedback). If the customer is unhappy or asks for a person, there's no charge. Takeovers aren't charged.
FAQs
Can Fin check with my team before replying?
Can Fin check with my team before replying?
Yes. With Human in the Loop, Fin asks a teammate for an approval, information or a decision, then finishes the conversation itself, on email and chat.
Why isn't my Human in the Loop rule firing?
Why isn't my Human in the Loop rule firing?
The most common reason: Fin offered to hand over instead of answering (for example, because the customer was upset or asked for a person). Human in the Loop only applies when Fin is about to send an answer. See the troubleshooting section.
Is Human in the Loop available with Fin on other helpdesks?
Is Human in the Loop available with Fin on other helpdesks?
No, Human in the Loop is only available with the Intercom helpdesk.
Can teammates get Fin's questions in Slack?
Can teammates get Fin's questions in Slack?
No, when using Human in the Loop, Fin's questions appear in the Intercom Inbox only.
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