AFK
A working pattern where the user starts a session and leaves the agent to run unattended.
AFK is away from keyboard: the user kicks off a session and leaves the agent to run on its own. The pattern works when the task is well specified, the permissions are tight enough that unattended running is safe, and there is a check that will catch it when it goes wrong.
The value is that AFK time and human time are different resources. An agent can grind through a migration, a test suite, or a batch of mechanical edits overnight, and that costs nothing in anyone's attention. Human review time is expensive and should be spent where judgement is needed.
The constraint is that an unattended agent cannot ask. Anything it was not told, anything ambiguous, it resolves by guessing. So the preparation for an AFK run is the preparation for any agent task: a tight spec, clear boundaries, a stop condition, and a check that runs when it finishes.
Related terms
Human in the Loop
A person who reviews, approves, or corrects the agent's work at key points.
Agentic Workflow
A process where an agent does a meaningful part of the work, not just answers a question about it.
Approval
The moment a person says yes before the agent does something it cannot undo.
Software Factory
A system of work where triggers, not humans, start agent sessions, so more work runs AFK.
Ticket
A unit of work small enough to be scoped, done, and checked.
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