Show approver list and status of approval for Jira approvals

[Jordi Garcia]

Now that approvals are available in any Jira project, how can you show, using Automation in Jira, a comment the list of approvers and the status for each?

I tried different approaches that I could find in documentation, like these below, without luck:

Current approval state for each approver is:
{{#issue.customfield_nnnnn.last.approvers}}
- {{approver.displayName}} is {{approverDecision}} {{/}} 

or

<ul>
{{#issue.customfield_10003}}
{{#approvers}}
<li>
{{approver.displayName}} - {{approverDecision}}
</li>
{{/}}
{{/}}
</ul>

I would like to show a list of approvers, in my case are approver groups in a multi-group picker, where I require at least one of each to approve.

I want to show this message when it transitions to approval and also, after each approval is registered so users know what is pending.

I know this information shows at the top-right side of the work item, but wanted to check if was possible to show this as a message or even as a slack.

[Christos Markoulatos · Accepted solution]

Hi @Jordi Garcia 

Try the below:

How to Show Approver List and Status via Automation

You can use Jira Automation smart values to print the current approval status in a comment or Slack message. Here’s a snippet that works for company-managed projects:

*Approvers & decisions*

{{#issue.Approvals}}

*Step:* {{name}} — *Status:* {{status}}

{{#approvers}}

• {{approver.displayName}} — {{approverDecision}}

{{/}}

{{/}}

• Trigger on Issue transitioned to Waiting for approval or Approval completed.
• Add a Re-fetch issue data action before the comment so the Approvals field is up-to-date.
• Works for multiple approval steps; loops through each approver and shows their decision (approved, declined, pending).

If You Use Approver Groups

Group approvals are supported when the workflow uses a Group Picker (multiple groups) field. For mentioning pending approvers per group, see Atlassian’s “Notify pending approvers” recipe, it uses indexed smart values like .approvers.get(0) and accountId mentions.

 Optional to Keep a Permanent Approval Log

If you want to retain decisions even when Jira resets the built-in Approvals field:

1. Create a custom multi-line text field (e.g., “Approval Log”).
2. Use the Approval Completed trigger.
3. Append to the field:

   {{approval.approvers.displayName}} — {{approval.decision}} on {{now}}

This gives you a running history for reporting or conditional logic.

Also check, they might not fit your use case but have valuable info:

Page Approvals - Let's Make It Complicated (Part 1... - Atlassian Community

Page Approvals - Let's Make It Complicated (Part 2... - Atlassian Community

Solved: Filtering Approvers who approved with smart values

Try it and let me know if it worked!!!

[Jordi Garcia]

Hi @Christos Markoulatos

Thanks for your reply! It did work even with Approval Groups.

The {{status}} returned a blank value, but i'll look into it.

Just need a cleaner way to show this, ideally like Jira shows these at the top right of the interface. It shows the approval groups selected and the approvals for each, but this will do for now.

Thanks a lot!

[Christos Markoulatos]

Hey @Jordi Garcia 

✨ Ready to add some Jira magic? Here’s how you can make approvals look awesome right in the issue view:

Step 1: Create a custom field for the summary

• Add a Text (multi‑line) field (e.g., Approval Summary) to your screens.
• Go to Project settings → Issue layout → Context fields and pin it so it appears right under the SLA panel on the right sidebar. That’s the closest you can get to the SLA block.

Step 2: Populate it with Automation

Use two rules:

• Approval required trigger
• Approval completed trigger

Add a Re-fetch issue data action, then Edit issue → set the field to this template:

*Approval Summary*

{{#issue.Approvals}}

**{{name}}** {{#if(status)}} ({{status}}){{/}}

{{#approvers}}

- {{approver.displayName}} →

{{#if(approverDecision=="approved")}}🟢 Approved{{/}}

{{#if(approverDecision=="pending")}}🟡 Pending{{/}}

{{#if(approverDecision=="declined")}}🔴 Declined{{/}}

{{/}}

{{/}}

What this does:

• Loops through all approval steps and approvers.
• Adds color-coded emojis for decisions:
  • 🟢 Approved
  • 🟡 Pending
  • 🔴 Declined
• Updates automatically when approvals start or change.

Step 3: Enjoy the UI magic

Your Approval Summary field will now show a neat, emoji-rich list right below SLA, updating in real time. Perfect for agents and even Slack notifications if you reuse the same smart values.

Hope this helps! 🚀