Create an approval policy

This guide configures an approval policy step by step. For the concept behind it, read Approvals first.

Goal

Create a policy that requires sign-off on a record, with the tables it watches, the condition that fires it, the approval stages, and what happens to the record once a decision is made.

Prerequisites

• The platform.approvals.write capability. It gates the policy editor and the save action.

Steps

To open the editor, go to Admin → Automate → Approval Policies and click Create Policy. The editor has four tabs and a Save Policy button.

1. Set basic info

On Basic Info, give the policy a Policy Name and pick the target tables it governs. The target tables are the records whose creation or update the policy watches.

Note

An approval policy triggers itself. When a record on one of its target tables is created or updated and the trigger conditions match, the policy fires on its own. You do not bind it to a catalog item or a form; to differentiate two items that share a table, use a trigger condition on the field that tells them apart.

2. Set trigger conditions

On Trigger Conditions, add the conditions that decide when the policy fires. With no conditions, the policy fires for every record on its target tables. Add a field condition (for example, request_type equals access) to scope it.

3. Add stages and approvers

On Stages, configure who approves. Each stage has an Approval Type (a single approver, all approvers, or any one approver), a Timeout, and an Approvers list. Add an approver by Specific User, Group, Role, or a dynamic source. Add more stages for multi-step sign-off; each stage must complete before the next begins.

4. Set outcomes

On Outcomes, choose what happens to the record when the policy resolves, such as the state it moves to once every stage approves or when it is rejected.

Click Save Policy.

Verification

You know it worked when:

• The policy appears in the Approval Policies list.
• Creating or updating a record on a target table that matches the conditions raises an approval for the configured approvers.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
The policy never fires	No target table is set, or the trigger conditions do not match the record	Add the record’s table to target tables and check the field conditions
Everyone gets asked to approve	The policy has no trigger conditions, so it fires for every record on the table	Add a field condition to scope it to the right records
Approval never completes	The stage’s approval type expects more approvers than are configured	Set the approval type and approvers to match your sign-off rule

Related

• Approvals: how a policy self-triggers and resolves.
• Create a catalog item: referencing a policy from a request.