Lesson 8 of 15 · 4:12
Add approvals to a workflow
How an approval flow holds a work item in a state until a named approver approves or rejects it, from adding an approval to a shared workflow to approving a change and reading its record.
In this course
- 1What is Enterprise Grid?1:55
- 2Multiple workspaces4:43
- 3Single sign-on4:30
- 4Custom roles4:34
- 5Group syncing4:25
- 6Work item types4:43
- 7Work item hierarchy4:28
- 8Approvals4:12
- 9Workspace governance4:28
- 10Workspace automations4:26
- 11Plane Runner4:49
- 12Audit logs4:32
- 13Sensitive data scanning4:30
- 14Work item security4:18
- 15Cascading properties4:07
What you will learn
- An approval flow holds a work item in a state until a named approver approves or rejects it.
- With workspace governance on, an approval added to a required workflow applies in every project that uses that work item type.
- Approvers are people you add by name. A role does not make its members approvers, and Plane does not stop a listed approver from approving a change they made.
- A decision from any one listed approver moves the work item. One approval is enough.
- While approval is pending, Plane locks the State control, including through the API. The description, the other properties, and comments stay editable.
- The work item's activity records who approved it, and the workflow's History shows who added each approver. Neither record reaches the audit logs.
A named sign-off before work moves on
0:00An approval flow holds a work item in a state until a named approver approves or rejects it. Approval flows are part of Enterprise Grid.
You name each approver, so you can keep the people who make a change apart from the people who sign it off.
Add an approval to a workflow
0:31With workspace governance on, workflows live in Workspace settings. Regulated change is Required for change requests, so an approval added to it applies in every project that uses them.
- As a workspace admin, open Workspace settings, then Workflows, and choose Regulated change.
- Under In review, choose Add flow.
- In the Configure panel, change Flow from Transition to Approval. Switching removes any transition settings on the state, so confirm with Switch to Approval.
- Choose Done for On approve, and In progress for On reject. A rejected change goes back for more work.
The approval sits on the state. Work items enter In review as before, and wait there until an approver decides.
Choose who approves
1:31Separation of duties depends on this list. Approvers are people you add by name, and a role such as Release approver does not make its members approvers.
Plane does not stop a listed approver from approving a change they made, so keep the people who make changes off the list. In the film, the Release approver role has 24 members, and the lead who writes Payments Platform's change requests stays off.
- In Members, search for each approver and add them. Three release approvers who do not make payments changes go on the list.
- Each approver also needs permission to edit work items in the project. Without it, Plane refuses their decision.
- Choose Save and continue. The flow card under In review now shows Approval, both destinations, and the three approvers.
A decision from any one approver moves the work item. One approval is enough: Plane does not wait for a second.
Approve a change and check the record
2:43Payments 42, Change payment approval limit, is a change request whose state is already In review. From the moment you saved, it waits for an approver.
Its assignee sees Approval pending at the top of the work item, and Plane locks the State control. The description, the other properties, and comments stay editable. The server applies the same check, so nobody can change the state through the API either.
An approver sees Approve and Reject instead. There is no field for a reason, so a reviewer who rejects should comment first.
Choose Approve. Payments 42 moves to Done, and its activity records who approved it and the state it moved to.
The workflow keeps its own record. Its History shows who added each approver, and when. Neither record reaches the audit logs, so read decisions on the work item and approver changes in the workflow's History.
Review the approval gate
3:52Change requests now wait in In review until a named approver decides, and the work item and the workflow both keep the record.
Try it in your workspace
Open Workspace settings, then Workflows, choose Regulated change, and under In review choose Add flow.
Transcript
Show the transcript
A named sign-off before work moves on
0:02An approval flow holds a work item in a state until a named approver approves or rejects it. Approval flows are part of Enterprise Grid.
0:12You name each approver, so you can keep the people who make a change apart from the people who sign it off.
0:20You'll add an approval to a shared workflow, choose its approvers, then approve a change and read its record. Let's take a closer look.
Add an approval to a workflow
0:33With workspace governance on, workflows live in Workspace settings. Regulated change is Required for change requests, so an approval added to it applies in every project that uses them.
0:47As a workspace admin, open Workspace settings, then Workflows, and choose Regulated change. Under In review, choose Add flow.
0:59In the Configure panel, change Flow from Transition to Approval. Switching removes any transition settings on the state, so confirm with Switch to Approval.
1:12Choose Done for On approve, and In progress for On reject. A rejected change goes back for more work.
1:22The approval sits on the state. Work items enter In review as before, and wait there until an approver decides.
Choose who approves
1:34Separation of duties depends on this list. Approvers are people you add by name, and a role such as Release approver doesn't make its members approvers.
1:45Plane doesn't stop a listed approver from approving a change they made, so keep the people who make changes off the list.
1:54Here, the Release approver role has 24 members. One of them leads Payments Platform and writes its change requests, so that lead stays off.
2:04In Members, search for each approver and add them. Three release approvers who don't make payments changes go on the list.
2:15Each approver also needs permission to edit work items in the project. Without it, Plane refuses their decision.
2:23Choose Save and continue. The flow card under In review now shows Approval, both destinations, and the three approvers.
2:34A decision from any one approver moves the work item. One approval is enough: Plane doesn't wait for a second.
Approve a change and check the record
2:46PAYMENTS-42, Change payment approval limit, is a change request whose state is already In review. From the moment you saved, it waits for an approver.
2:57Its assignee sees Approval pending at the top of the work item, and Plane locks the State control. The description, the other properties, and comments stay editable.
3:09The server applies the same check, so nobody can change the state through the API either.
3:15An approver sees Approve and Reject instead. There's no field for a reason, so a reviewer who rejects should comment first. Choose Approve. PAYMENTS-42 moves to Done, and its activity records who approved it and the state it moved to.
3:36The workflow keeps its own record. Its History shows who added each approver, and when.
3:43Neither record reaches the audit logs, so read decisions on the work item and approver changes in the workflow's History.
Review the approval gate
3:53Change requests now wait in In review until a named approver decides, and the work item and the workflow both keep the record.
Read next
Plans
- Enterprise Grid:
- Approval flows and workspace workflows