Approval Management
Approval management is the process of reviewing and acting on tasks generated by workflows. When a workflow reaches an approval node, it pauses and creates a review task for the designated approver.
Viewing Pending Approvals
My Requests
Navigate to My Requests in the sidebar to view all requests you have submitted. Each request displays its current status, the workflow step it is waiting on, and the assigned reviewer.
Approval Tasks
If you are designated as an approver, pending tasks appear in your notifications and on relevant dashboards. Each task shows the request details, the workflow context, the requester's justification, and the specific step requiring your decision.
Making Decisions
Approving a Request
Review the request details carefully, including the justification, the data product or role involved, and any risk indicators. Click Approve to advance the workflow to the next step. If this is the final approval step, the request transitions to Approved status automatically.
Rejecting a Request
If a request does not meet governance requirements, click Reject. You can add notes explaining the reason for rejection. The workflow terminates, and the requester is notified of the decision.
Adding Notes
Both approval and rejection support reviewer notes. These notes become part of the permanent audit trail and are visible to the requester and other stakeholders. Notes are especially valuable for explaining conditional approvals or providing guidance on resubmission.
Multi-Step Approvals
Sequential Chains
In workflows with multiple approval steps, each step must be completed before the next becomes active. The platform automatically advances to the next step when the current step is approved. If any step in the chain is rejected, the entire workflow terminates.
Progress Tracking
The approval section of a request detail page shows the full approval chain. Each step displays its label, the assigned reviewer, the decision (if made), timestamps, and any reviewer notes. Completed steps show a green checkmark, the active step is highlighted, and future steps appear as pending.
Auto-Approval
Some workflow steps are configured for automatic approval. These steps resolve instantly without human intervention. Auto-approved steps appear in the approval chain with an "Auto" indicator, providing full transparency that the step was processed automatically.
Auto-approval is commonly used for low-risk access requests — for example, read-only access to public datasets. This eliminates bottlenecks while maintaining a complete audit trail.
Governance Role Resolution
When an approval step targets a governance role (such as "Product Owner" or "Data Steward") rather than a specific user, the platform resolves the correct approver at runtime. It looks up who currently holds that role for the specific data product involved in the request. This means workflows remain valid even as team assignments change — the approval always goes to the current role holder.
Audit Trail
Every approval decision is permanently recorded in the workflow instance history. The audit trail captures who made the decision, what the decision was (approve or reject), when the decision was made, any notes provided, and the full context at the time of decision. This history is accessible to administrators and compliance officers for governance reviews and regulatory audits.
Integration with Notifications
When an approval task is created, the assigned reviewer is automatically notified through the platform's notification system. This includes in-app notifications and optional email alerts, ensuring that approvals are not overlooked.
Best Practices
Respond Promptly
Pending approvals can block workflows and delay access for users. Set up notification preferences to ensure you are alerted to new approval tasks quickly.
Provide Clear Notes
When rejecting a request, explain why and what the requester can do differently. This reduces unnecessary resubmissions and improves the overall governance experience.
Review Governance Assignments
Ensure that governance roles (Owner, Steward) are assigned for all products. If a product has no assigned owner, approval nodes targeting that role cannot resolve an approver, and the workflow will remain suspended until the assignment is made.