HumanLayer - AI Developer Tools Tool

Overview

HumanLayer is an open-source API/SDK and companion IDE (CodeLayer) that adds deterministic human-in-the-loop primitives to agentic workflows, letting LLM-powered agents pause, request help, collect structured feedback, or require approvals before executing high-risk tool calls. The project provides both TypeScript and Python SDKs and a command-line/IDE experience for orchestrating multi-model coding sessions, running parallel Claude Code instances, and managing worktrees and remote workers so agents can tackle large, complex codebases with human oversight. ([github.com](https://github.com/humanlayer/humanlayer)) Built for engineering teams, HumanLayer supplies function-level decorators/primitives (for example, require_approval and human_as_tool) that integrate with existing orchestration frameworks (LangChain, CrewAI, ControlFlow, etc.) and any LLM, plus multi-channel notification/contact options (Slack, email, Discord planned). It emphasizes auditability, routing, and structured responses so agents can continue after human input while preserving a reproducible trace for reviews and debugging. The project is accompanied by example integrations, CLI utilities, and an IDE workflow (CodeLayer) for developer productivity. ([pypi.org](https://pypi.org/project/humanlayer/?utm_source=openai))

GitHub Statistics

• Stars: 9,612
• Forks: 818
• Contributors: 29
• License: NOASSERTION
• Primary Language: TypeScript
• Last Updated: 2026-01-07T19:05:21Z
• Latest Release: pro-0.20.0

HumanLayer’s primary repository is active and well-adopted: ~9.6k stars and ~818 forks on GitHub, with dozens of contributors and a long commit history (thousands of commits). The codebase is primarily TypeScript and Go, and the project is published under an Apache-2 license. Releases and commit activity are recent (visible commits on Jan 7, 2026), and there are many packaged releases for both the CLI/SDK and language-specific clients. These signals indicate a healthy, active open-source project with ongoing maintenance and ecosystem packaging (npm, PyPI). ([github.com](https://github.com/humanlayer/humanlayer))

Installation

Install via npm:

npm install humanlayer

npm install @humanlayer/sdk

npx humanlayer join-waitlist --email [email protected]

pip install humanlayer

docker compose up (use repository docker-compose.yml for local services)

Key Features

• Require human approval for specific function/tool calls using @hl.require_approval() decorators. ([pypi.org](https://pypi.org/project/humanlayer/?utm_source=openai))
• Human-as-tool primitive (hl.human_as_tool()) to request free-form human feedback inside agent flows. ([pypi.org](https://pypi.org/project/humanlayer/?utm_source=openai))
• Multi-channel contact and routing: Slack, Email, CLI and planned Discord/SMS integrations. ([libraries.io](https://libraries.io/npm/humanlayer?utm_source=openai))
• Language and framework agnostic: SDKs/examples for Python, TypeScript and integrations (LangChain, CrewAI, ControlFlow). ([pypi.org](https://pypi.org/project/humanlayer/?utm_source=openai))
• CodeLayer IDE/CLI: orchestrate parallel Claude Code sessions, worktrees, remote cloud workers, and keyboard-first workflows. ([github.com](https://github.com/humanlayer/humanlayer))
• Auditability and reproducible traces: logs, structured response options, and example workflows for safe agent escalation. ([pypi.org](https://pypi.org/project/humanlayer/?utm_source=openai))

Community

HumanLayer has a sizable open-source community (about 9.6k stars, ~818 forks) and active packaging on npm and PyPI; the repo shows frequent commits and releases (commits as recent as Jan 7, 2026 and many tagged releases). There is also an active project ecosystem (CLI packages, SDKs, example integrations) and public channels (Discord, waitlist/API pages) for early access and team services. For adoption planning: review the repo’s CONTRIBUTING/DEVELOPMENT docs, check the published PyPI/npm release notes for SDK stability, and evaluate the docs/examples for the frameworks you use. ([github.com](https://github.com/humanlayer/humanlayer))

Key Information

• Category: Developer Tools
• Type: AI Developer Tools Tool