Workaround for Approval

Vince Aldrin Cantada

I'm working on Approval step in status Waiting for Approval when one of the Approver declines it will transition to status For Revision. My problem is if it goes back to the Waiting for Approval status it will reset the approverDecision of the Approvers. Also accessing the history of Approval via REST API is limited and Approval field is locked or not editable. My goal was to retain the approverDecision of the users who already approved or transfer them to a certain field that list all users who already Approved but it is not doable since accessing approval history only shows the record of first transition.
I'm having a hard time setting up this Approval, do you guys have any idea or workaround, thank you in advance. 

Christos Markoulatos -Relational-

Hi @Vince Aldrin Cantada,

You’ve hit one of the common limitations of Jira Service Management approvals: when an issue returns to Waiting for Approval, the built-in approval field resets, and the previous decisions aren’t retained. Unfortunately, the approval history is not fully exposed via the REST API, and the Approvals field is locked, so you can’t directly edit or persist those decisions.

What I think u should try:

1. Capture Approver Decisions via Automation
   • Use the Approval Completed trigger in Automation.
   • When an approver approves or declines, append their name and decision to a custom multi-line text field (e.g., “Approval Log”).
   • This way, even if the approval resets, you have a running record of who approved or declined.
   • Smart values like {{approval.decision}} and {{approval.approvers.displayName}} can help here.
2. Use a Custom Field for Tracking Approved Users
   • Create a custom user picker or text field to store users who have already approved.
   • Update it via automation whenever an approval is completed.
   • This won’t prevent Jira from resetting the built-in approval, but it gives you a reliable reference for reporting or conditional logic.
3. Consider an App for Advanced Approval Management
   • If you need full retention of approval states across multiple cycles, apps like Approval Path for Jira or Great Gadgets can provide better tracking and reporting, I haven’t used them but it is worth checking.

Unfortunately, as far as I know there’s no native way to stop Jira from resetting the approval field when the status changes back, so automation or an app is the best route.

Also check these links:

• Approval Completed Trigger
• Use Custom Field for Approvers with Automation

Let me know if it worked!