Approval FormID: 11035

When to Use

• Purchase order approval: Any PO above $10,000 must be approved by the CFO before the ERP is updated. The Approval node suspends the workflow, notifies the CFO in their inbox with the full PO context, and resumes on the approved or rejected port based on their decision.
• Employee leave request approval: An employee's leave request must be approved by their direct manager before calendar blocking and payroll adjustments are made. The manager sees the dates, remaining balance, and reason in their inbox.
• Contract sign-off by multiple stakeholders: A new vendor contract must be approved by both Legal and Finance before external signature. Using the Anonymous strategy, both parties must approve before the downstream e-signature step fires.
• Expense claim over policy threshold: Claims above the employee's self-approval limit require finance team review. The Approval node routes to the finance role — any finance team member can approve or reject.
• IT change advisory board (CAB) vote: An infrastructure change requires N of M CAB members to approve before automated deployment proceeds, using the NofM strategy with a configurable required count.

Two-Phase Execution

Configuration

Approval Strategy Comparison

Output Ports

Actor Types

Output Fields (on approved, rejected, escalated, abstained ports)

Sample Configuration

{
  "nodeType": "approval",
  "formId": 11035,
  "settings": {
    "title": "Purchase Order Approval — {{ $output.poNode.poNumber }}",
    "description": "PO for {{ $output.poNode.vendorName }} totalling {{ $output.poNode.totalAmount | currency }}.\nRaised by: {{ $output.poNode.requestedBy }}\nCost centre: {{ $output.poNode.costCentre }}\nBusiness justification: {{ $output.poNode.justification }}",
    "requireReason": true,
    "allowAbstain": false,
    "strategy": "AnyOne",
    "deadlineSeconds": 86400,
    "autoOnTimeout": "escalated",
    "escalateToUserId": "user:cfo-deputy",
    "actors": [
      { "id": "role:finance-director", "actorType": "Role", "label": "Finance Director" }
    ],
    "watchers": [
      { "id": "user:procurement-manager", "actorType": "User", "label": "Procurement Manager" }
    ]
  }
}

Sample Output

Success Port — Approved

{
  "decision": "approved",
  "approvedBy": [
    {
      "actorId": "usr_abc123",
      "actorName": "Jane Smith",
      "decidedAt": "2025-03-15T14:32:00Z",
      "reason": "Budget within quarterly limit. Approved.",
      "vote": "approved"
    }
  ],
  "rejectedBy": [],
  "abstainedBy": [],
  "totalActors": 1,
  "requiredCount": 1,
  "outcome": "approved",
  "completedAt": "2025-03-15T14:32:00Z",
  "timeoutAt": null,
  "sessionId": "approval_session_xyz789"
}

Rejected Port

{
  "decision": "rejected",
  "rejectedBy": [
    {
      "actorId": "usr_def456",
      "actorName": "Bob Johnson",
      "decidedAt": "2025-03-15T15:10:00Z",
      "reason": "Exceeds authority limit. Please escalate to VP Finance.",
      "vote": "rejected"
    }
  ],
  "approvedBy": [],
  "outcome": "rejected",
  "completedAt": "2025-03-15T15:10:00Z"
}

Expression Reference

Node Policies & GuardRails

Pattern Examples

Pattern 1 — Two-Person Purchase Order Sign-Off (Anonymous)

Both the Finance Director AND the CFO must approve before a high-value PO is submitted to the ERP. A single rejection from either immediately rejects the request.

{
  "strategy": "Anonymous",
  "deadlineSeconds": 172800,
  "autoOnTimeout": "rejected",
  "requireReason": true,
  "title": "PO Approval Required: {{ $output.poNode.poNumber }}",
  "actors": [
    { "id": "user:finance-director-001", "actorType": "User", "label": "Finance Director" },
    { "id": "user:cfo-001",              "actorType": "User", "label": "CFO" }
  ]
}

Pattern 2 — IT Change Advisory Board 3-of-5 Vote (NofM)

An infrastructure change requires at least 3 of 5 CAB members to approve before the deployment pipeline is triggered. The node waits up to 48 hours for the quorum.

{
  "strategy": "NofM",
  "requiredCount": 3,
  "deadlineSeconds": 172800,
  "autoOnTimeout": "rejected",
  "allowAbstain": true,
  "requireReason": true,
  "title": "CAB Vote: {{ $output.changeNode.changeTitle }}",
  "actors": [
    { "id": "user:cab-member-1", "actorType": "User", "label": "CAB Member 1" },
    { "id": "user:cab-member-2", "actorType": "User", "label": "CAB Member 2" },
    { "id": "user:cab-member-3", "actorType": "User", "label": "CAB Member 3" },
    { "id": "user:cab-member-4", "actorType": "User", "label": "CAB Member 4" },
    { "id": "user:cab-member-5", "actorType": "User", "label": "CAB Member 5" }
  ]
}

Pattern 3 — Leave Request with 24-Hour Manager SLA (AnyOne)

Any member of the management role can approve or reject a leave request. After 24 hours with no decision, the request escalates to the HR director.

{
  "strategy": "AnyOne",
  "deadlineSeconds": 86400,
  "autoOnTimeout": "escalated",
  "escalateToUserId": "user:hr-director",
  "title": "Leave Request: {{ $output.formNode.form_data.employeeName }}",
  "description": "{{ $output.formNode.form_data.employeeName }} has requested {{ $output.formNode.form_data.leaveType }} leave from {{ $output.formNode.form_data.startDate }} to {{ $output.formNode.form_data.endDate }}. Remaining balance: {{ $var.leaveBalance }} days.",
  "actors": [
    { "id": "role:line-managers", "actorType": "Role", "label": "Line Managers" }
  ]
}