Add an Approval task to a process automation - Add an Approval task to a process automation to route requests to designated approvers before the process continues.

Automation 360

Add an Approval task to a process automation to route requests to designated approvers before the process continues.

Before you begin

Before you begin, create an approval content form to pass data to the approver. See Create a form.

Note: Enterprise Platform is required to use the Approval task in Cloud and On-Premises deployments. Contact your customer service manager for details.

About this task

Use the Approval task to automate approval workflows where users submit requests and designated approvers review and respond, while all parties stay notified of progress.

Procedure

  1. From the Control Room, open an existing process automation or create a new process automation to launch the Process Composer.
  2. Add the Approval task to the end of your process automation.
    Image shows the Approval task element in the UI.
  3. Select the Approval task element to open the configuration panel.
  4. Enter a unique Element ID.
    The Element ID is used only as an internal reference during design and must be unique within the process.
  5. Enter a Task name.
    The Task name appears as a reference during process execution.
  6. Select Hide this task after completion.
  7. In the Form field, select Choose and select an approval content form.
    Add any required Input values after selecting the form.
  8. In the Task requester and assignment panel, select Default or Custom.
    Image demonstrates requester is process runner and assignee is approver.
    • Default: The assigned group receives the task in their Assigned task list. To also display the task in the requester's Requested task list, select Show this task in 'Requested' task list for the request creator check box.
    • Custom: Set the Task requester and Task assignment separately. For each, select one of the following:
      • Request creator: The user who submitted the process request can view this task from their Requested task list
      • Assigned group: Users can view the task in their Assigned tab, access its details, make edits, and assign it to themselves.
      • Specific user group: You can enable the following options for the approval.
    • Role: Select a pre-built Custom role to add users that have the selected role assigned. Create a role
    • Team: Select the pre-built Team to add users in the selected Team. Assign members to a team
    • Variable: Select a pre-built Global value to add users from that user group to the configuration. Create a global value
    Note:
    • The task requester represents the user group (role, team, individual user) that sends the task for response. Assign the task to the user group that receives the request and responds. See User configurations for an approval task.
    • Approval task comments entered by approvers are not retrievable through task metadata, output variables, or supported APIs. Only the approval outcome (Approved or Declined) is available for downstream process automation. To capture approval comments later in the workflow, use a custom mechanism outside the Approval task.
  9. Enter the Number of approvals required you want for this task to complete.
  10. Select the Task expiration time.
  11. In the Action button labels section, select the Approve button label and the Decline button label.
    Predefined button labels are automatically localized in supported languages.
  12. In the Data privacy tag field, enter a text value or variable to generate a hidden custom output field used for data privacy searches. This field is used only as a hidden field that can be searched for data privacy purposes. Variables are populated at runtime.
  13. In the Task attributes section, click Add attribute to add any previously available checked-in attributes to feed into the approval task.
    1. From the Label field, select an attribute from the drop-down menu (required). The ID field is auto-generated and populates based on your selection.
    2. Select a Type for the attribute from the drop-down menu. For example, String, Number, Boolean, Datetime).
    3. Select how you want to display the Visibility from the drop-down menu. For example, Visible or Hidden.
    4. Enter a hard-coded value in the Value assignment for the selected data type or provide a value using a variable by clicking the (x) box.
    5. Click Add attribute to add any additional attributes.
  14. In the Annotation (optional) section, to add context, assumptions, or references for this step.
  15. Save the process automation.

Results

The Approval task is configured and saved in the process automation. When the process runs, the task routes to the designated approvers. The process continues only after the required number of approvals is received or the task expires.