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The Approval Node pauses a workflow to collect an explicit decision — approve or reject — from an assigned user or group. It is the primary mechanism for building human authorization into automated processes. When the workflow reaches an Approval Node, it creates a task for the designated approver(s), presents them with contextual form data from previous steps, and waits for a decision before routing the workflow down the appropriate path.

The Approval Node produces two output handles on the workflow canvas — Approved and Rejected — allowing you to design distinct downstream paths for each outcome.

When to Use

Use an Approval Node when your workflow requires:

Manager sign-off before proceeding (e.g., leave requests, expense claims, purchase orders).
Compliance or security review gates (e.g., access provisioning, data export requests).
Multi-level authorization chains where different authority levels must approve sequentially.
Any step where a human must explicitly accept or deny a request before the process continues.

Configuration

Forms

Attach one or more forms to provide the approver with context and, optionally, collect additional data during the approval step. When the task is presented, all form fields are automatically pre-populated with data submitted in earlier workflow steps.

If multiple forms are attached, you can enable Reorder Forms to let the approver view them in any order.

Assignment Type

The assignment type determines how the approval decision is resolved when multiple approvers are involved.

Type	Behavior
Any (default)	The task is assigned to all configured approvers, but only one person needs to act. The first approver to approve or reject resolves the step for everyone.
All	Every assigned approver must independently approve. If any single approver rejects, the entire step is rejected. The workflow waits until all approvers have acted.
Hybrid	Combines multiple assignment strategies in a matrix. Each row can use a different assignment method with its own resolution rule (Any or All), enabling complex multi-party approval patterns.

Note: Escalation is automatically disabled for All and Hybrid assignment types, since the task is distributed across multiple independent approvers.

Task Assignment

Define who should receive the approval task. The same assignment types as the Input Node are available:

Assignment Type	Description
Audience	Assign to a predefined group (e.g., "Finance Approvers").
Users	Assign to specific named users.
Relation	Assign based on the initiator's org relationship — Manager, Skip-level Manager, HR, Initiator, or a Dynamic relation resolved from workflow data.
DOA (Delegation of Authority)	Route to the appropriate authority level based on a configured DOA matrix and business rules.
Hybrid	Combine multiple strategies in a matrix for complex approval chains.

A Default Assignee serves as a fallback if the primary assignment cannot be resolved at runtime.

Rejection Behavior

When an approver rejects, the rejection type setting determines what happens next:

Reject Type	Behavior
Simple (default)	The workflow follows the Rejected output handle to the next connected node. You design the rejection path on the canvas like any other branch.
Send To	The workflow is routed back to a specific earlier node for revision. You select the target node in the configuration.
Terminate	The entire workflow instance is terminated immediately. The workflow item is marked as rejected and no further steps execute.

You can optionally add a Rejection Outcome Description — a human-readable label that describes the rejection path (e.g., "Sent back to requester for budget revision").

Approval Comments

Two settings control how comments work during the approval action:

Skip Approval Comment: The approver is not prompted for a comment at all — the approve/reject action happens immediately.
Approval Comment Optional: The comment field is shown but not required. The approver can submit their decision with or without a comment.

When both are disabled (the default), a comment is required for the approval action.

Escalation

When enabled (available only for Any assignment type), escalation automatically reassigns the task if the current approver does not act within defined SLA thresholds. Multiple escalation levels can be configured, each with its own time limit and target assignee.

Escalation is also supported within DOA-based assignments. Each level has separate notification templates for the current assignee, escalated assignee, and requestor.

Auto-Action

Auto-action prevents approval steps from blocking the workflow indefinitely. When enabled, the system automatically takes a configured action if the approver does not respond within the specified hours.

Auto-Action Type	Behavior
Auto-Approve	The task is automatically approved and the workflow follows the Approved path.
Auto-Reject	The task is automatically rejected and the workflow follows the rejection behavior configured above. If the reject type is Send To, the auto-rejection routes back to the same target node as a manual rejection would.

The timeout duration can be a fixed number of hours or a dynamic value resolved from workflow data.

Reminders

When auto-action is enabled, you can also enable periodic reminders. The system sends notifications to the approver at a configured frequency (in hours) until the task is completed or the auto-action deadline is reached.

Delegation

When enabled, the current approver can delegate their task to another user. You can restrict delegation targets by specifying allowed audiences or users. Delegation events trigger customizable notifications.

Reassignment

Similar to delegation, reassignment allows an authorized user to transfer the approval task to a different person. Reassignment has its own target configuration and notification templates, separate from delegation.

Revision Requests

When Request Revision is enabled, the approver can send the workflow back to a previous step for corrections instead of outright rejecting. You configure which earlier node the revision should be sent to. The target node must have a form attached.

Navigation

The Approval Node supports three independent navigation configurations — one for each outcome:

Navigation	Triggered When
On Approval	The approver approves the request.
On Rejection	The approver rejects the request.
On Revision	The approver requests a revision to a previous step.

Each supports the same navigation types as the Input Node: Success Screen, Render Document, External Redirect, and Internal Redirect, along with options for a back button and confirmation popup.

Web Display Configuration

Control which contextual elements are visible to the approver on the task page:

Option	Description
Show Progress Path	Display the workflow's step-by-step progress tracker.
Show Comments	Allow viewing and adding comments on the task.
Show Tags	Display tags associated with the workflow item.
Show Initiated By	Show who originally started the workflow.
Show Note	Display additional notes or context.

Progress Path

You can optionally hide the Approval Node from the progress path if it is skipped during execution.

Notification Templates

The Approval Node has a comprehensive set of customizable notification templates (both bot message and email) for every event in its lifecycle:

Assignment: Sent when the approval task is assigned.
Approval: Sent to the initiator when the request is approved (with and without comment).
Rejection: Sent to the initiator when the request is rejected (with and without comment).
Rejection/Reassignment: Sent when a rejection triggers reassignment to a previous step.
Revision Request Reassignment: Sent when the approver requests a revision.
Auto-Approval: Sent when the system auto-approves due to inactivity (separate templates for initiator and assignee).
Auto-Rejection: Sent when the system auto-rejects due to inactivity (separate templates for initiator and assignee).
Reminder: Periodic reminder sent before the auto-action deadline.
Escalation: Separate templates for current assignee, escalated assignee, and requestor at each level.
Delegation: Templates for the new assignee, current assignee, and delegator.
Reassignment: Templates for reassignment events.

How It Works at Runtime

Workflow reaches the Approval Node — the system evaluates the assignment configuration and determines who the approval task should be assigned to. For All and Hybrid types, tasks are created for each approver in parallel.
Notifications are sent — the approver(s) receive bot and/or email notifications with the task details.
Timers begin — if escalation is configured, SLA timers start. If auto-action is enabled, the timeout countdown begins.
Form is pre-populated — data from previous workflow steps is pulled in to give the approver full context about the request.
Approver interacts with the task — the approver can approve (optionally with a comment), reject (optionally with a comment), request a revision to an earlier step, delegate the task to another user, or save as draft and return later.
Decision is recorded — the form data and decision are saved with a full audit trail. For All assignment type, the system waits for every approver to act before proceeding.
Workflow branches — based on the decision, the workflow follows the Approved or Rejected path. Auto-approve and auto-reject outcomes follow the same paths as their manual equivalents.
If no action is taken — reminders are sent at the configured frequency. When the auto-action deadline is reached, the system executes the configured action and advances the workflow.

Approval Node vs. Input Node

Feature	Approval Node	Input Node
Purpose	Collect a decision (approve/reject)	Collect data via form submission
Output Handles	Two — Approved and Rejected	One — continues to next node
Assignment Type	Any, All, or Hybrid	N/A (single assignee resolution)
Auto-Action Outcomes	Auto-Approve or Auto-Reject	Auto-Fill only
Rejection Behavior	Simple, Send To, or Terminate	N/A
Navigation	Separate configs for approve, reject, and revision	Single config plus revision
Comment Controls	Skip comment, optional comment	N/A

Best Practices

Choose the right assignment type for your use case. Use Any for simple manager approvals, All for compliance gates requiring unanimous sign-off, and Hybrid for complex multi-party scenarios.
Always configure a rejection behavior. The default is Simple (route down the Rejected path), but consider whether Terminate or Send To better fits your process.
Set a default assignee as a fallback to prevent tasks from being unassigned if the primary assignment fails.
Enable auto-action for time-sensitive approvals to prevent bottlenecks. Choose auto-approve for low-risk processes and auto-reject for high-compliance scenarios.
Use reminders with auto-action — periodic nudges significantly reduce the number of approvals that hit the timeout threshold.
Keep escalation levels reasonable — one or two levels with meaningful time gaps are typically sufficient.
Configure distinct navigation for each outcome — a clear success message after approval and a helpful redirect after rejection improve the end-user experience.
Use approval comments strategically — require comments for high-stakes approvals (the default) and make them optional or skip them entirely for routine, low-risk approvals.