Add a form or selection in front portal for supervisor to choose before click "Approval"

Question

We want to add a form in user portal for supervisor to make a selection before supervisor click "Approval" button. I have tried to ask Rovo but unfortunately unable to make it to work. I want to know if this is even possible and how exactly I can to do make it to work?

Also this form (or selection) must be mandatory before supervisor click "Approval" button.

Sami Shaik · Answer

Hi @Mic Wang , the Partner answer above is correct on the one thing that matters: the Approve button on the portal bypasses workflow validators, so you cannot force a field at the moment of approval. But that only rules out one design. The design that works moves the mandatory selection to before the approval step, and JSM has all the pieces for it natively.

The shape:

* Add a status before your approval status, for example "Awaiting supervisor input."
* Build a form with the mandatory selection (Forms in your space settings), and configure it so customers can complete it on the portal.
* Automation on request creation: add the supervisor as a request participant (from whatever field holds the supervisor), attach the form to the request, and notify them. The supervisor now sees the request on the portal with a form to complete.
* Automation on form submission (trigger "Form submitted," which is the only event that reliably populates the form's values): transition the request into the approval status. The supervisor then sees the Approve button, and their selection is already captured on the request.
* Belt and braces: put the "Forms: Specific form submitted" validator on the transition into the approval status, so nothing, agent or rule, can move the request to approval without that form. Atlassian's KB recommends exactly this pattern for approval statuses: https://support.atlassian.com/jira/kb/how-to-add-validator-on-forms-via-workflow-or-automation/

Why this satisfies "mandatory": the supervisor physically cannot reach the Approve button until the form is submitted, because the request is not in the approval status yet. You get the enforcement without touching the approval transition that ignores validators.

Two things to know: the supervisor must be a customer or participant on the request to see and fill the form on the portal, so step 3 is not optional; and if the supervisor sometimes needs to reject at the form stage rather than the approval stage, add a "Decline" option to the form and let the same automation route it to a declined status instead.

Ballon Apps · Answer

Short answer: at the approval moment itself, this isn't possible natively — and it's worth knowing why before you build around it.
 
Approval steps bypass workflow transitions. That's documented expected behaviour, not a bug: a validator or condition on the approval transition is not evaluated, so the approver can hit Approve with your required field still empty. There's a long-standing open suggestion to change this (JSDCLOUD-6988, open since 2018).
 
Forms don't close the gap either — approvers can't edit form fields during the approval stage. They can see what the requester submitted, but not fill anything in themselves.
 
So the choice is where you move the input to:
 
1. Before the approval. Atlassian's own recommended workaround is to split it into two transitions: one that validates the required fields, and a separate one carrying the approval step. Give the first transition a screen with your select list and a validator, and tick "Show transition on the customer portal" so the supervisor sees it. They then do two actions — make the selection, then approve — rather than one.
 
2. After the approval. An automation rule on the approved transition that creates a follow-up task or sends a form link. This does not make the selection mandatory before approving, so only use it if "before" isn't a hard requirement.
 
If the selection genuinely has to be mandatory and at the approval moment, option 1 is the closest you'll get without ScriptRunner-style custom validation, and even then the two-step shape stays.