Advanced approval actions allow admins to create automated workflows, calledaction flows, that create approval requests and then perform subsequent actions based on the response to the approval request. This makes it possible to automate what happens next, such as continuing or ending the process, notifying stakeholders, or updating fields.

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Summary: ◀▼

Advanced approval actions let you automate workflows by creating approval requests and triggering next steps based on responses like approved, denied, or withdrawn. You can set up multi-branch action flows to handle different outcomes, update tickets accordingly, and manage timeouts. Joining the early access program is required to use these features for automating approval processes and notifications within your support workflows.

Note: Advanced approval actions are currently part of an early access program. To participate, sign up in Admin Center.

Advanced approval actions allow admins to create automated workflows, called action flows, that create approval requests and then perform subsequent actions based on the response to the approval request. This makes it possible to automate what happens next, such as continuing or ending the process, notifying stakeholders, or updating fields.

This article contains the following topics:
  • Joining the advanced approval actions EAP
  • Creating advanced approval action flows

Joining the advanced approval actions EAP

To access the Create approval request and wait for outcome action in the action builder, you must join the EAP.

To join the advanced approval actions EAP
  1. In Admin Center, click Workspaces in the sidebar, then select Agent tools > Approval requests.
  2. Select Sign up for early access to advanced approval actions.
  3. Read the terms and conditions, and click I agree.
  4. Click Submit.

Creating advanced approval action flows

After joining the advanced approval actions EAP, you can use the Create action flow and wait for outcome step in action flows. This step causes an action flow to wait for up to 30 days for a response to the approval request. Creating action flows that include this action makes it possible to automatically create approval requests and automate the next steps based on the response to the approval request.

For example, the following example action flow uses branch steps to define automated paths for all possible responses to an approval request:
  1. Step 1 - Action flow trigger: The action flow trigger. This could be anything related to a ticket, such as creation or a specific type of update. For this example, let's use the Ticket created trigger and specify conditions that the ticket must meet.
  2. Step 2 - Get ticket details: Retrieve information about the ticket using the ticket ID as a variable input from the action flow trigger.
  3. Step 3 - Send approval request and wait for outcome: Specify the ticket ID as a variable input from the action flow trigger, and then enter the details for the approval request.
  4. Step 4 - Branch: By default, branch steps have two branches. For this workflow, you need to add branches for a total of 3:
    • Branch 1: Rename to Approved and use the Approval outcome as the Variable input from step 3. Set the branch's Operator to Is and then set the value to approved. This configures the branch to be used if the approval request is approved.
    • Branch 2: Rename to Denied and use the Approval outcome as the Variable input from step 3. Set the branch's Operator to Is and then set the value to denied. This configures the branch to be used if the approval request is denied.
    • Branch 3: Rename to Withdrawn and use the Approval outcome as the Variable input from step 3. Set the branch's Operator to Is and then set the value to withdrawn. This configures the branch to be used if the approval request is withdrawn.
    • Else: This is a required branch that is used to handle all approval requests that have an outcome that is neither approved, denied, nor withdrawn. Most commonly, this indicates that no response was received within 30 days and the step timed out.
  5. Step 5 and beyond
    1. Under the Approved branch, add steps that continue the workflow. For example, you could add another approval request step for a multi-level approval process, followed by another branch to handle the three possible outcomes.
    2. Under the Denied branch, add one or more steps that update the ticket with a field update, tag, or comment indicating the denial as the resolution to the ticket.
    3. Under the Withdrawn branch, add one or more steps that update the ticket with a field update, tag, or comment indicating the request was withdrawn.
    4. Under the Else branch, add one or more steps that update the ticket with a field update, tag, or comment indicating the action flow timed out waiting for a response to the approval request.
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