How to add an approval step to a workflow

Most workflow steps run one after another without stopping. The Ask for approval step pauses the workflow and waits for a person to approve before continuing — useful when an action needs a human decision, like granting admin access or approving a new tool.

Adding the step

1. Open your workflow and click the plus icon where the approval should happen

2. Select "Ask for approval" from the action library

   

3. Configure the step:

   • Approvers: Who can approve this step

   • Title: The heading the approver sees

   • Questions: Anything you want the approver to answer alongside their decision

   • Comment: Extra context for the approver

   • Timeout (days): How long the request stays open before it is automatically declined. Leave empty to wait forever.

     

   ℹ️ Every field accepts variables from earlier steps, so the request can be personalised per run. Type {{ in text fields, or click [f] for single-value fields. See How to use variables in workflows.

4. Create other steps

5. Save the workflow

What happens when it runs

1. The workflow reaches the approval step and pauses

2. A ticket is created for the approver, visible in the Tickets module

   

3. The approver opens the ticket and approves or declines, with the option of adding context for the decision

   

4. The workflow resumes from where it stopped

ℹ️ If nobody responds before the timeout you set, the request is automatically declined and the workflow continues on that basis.

Branching on the decision

The approval outcome can route the rest of your workflow:

1. Add a condition (if) after the approval step

2. Set the Value to the approval step's decision output

3. Set "Compared to" to approved

   

4. Build the true and false paths — for example, send a Slack message on approval, or notify the requester on refusal

See How to create a conditional workflow for full branching detail.