content/factor-06-launch-pause-resume.md
Agents are just programs, and we have things we expect from how to launch, query, resume, and stop them.
<details> <summary><a href="https://github.com/humanlayer/12-factor-agents/blob/main/img/165-pause-resume-animation.gif">GIF Version</a></summary> </details>It should be easy for users, apps, pipelines, and other agents to launch an agent with a simple API.
Agents and their orchestrating deterministic code should be able to pause an agent when a long-running operation is needed.
External triggers like webhooks should enable agents to resume from where they left off without deep integration with the agent orchestrator.
Closely related to factor 5 - unify execution state and business state and factor 8 - own your control flow, but can be implemented independently.
Note - often AI orchestrators will allow for pause and resume, but not between the moment of tool selection and tool execution. See also factor 7 - contact humans with tool calls and factor 11 - trigger from anywhere, meet users where they are.