Add approval option in workflows (jira software project - not service desk)

[Martin Kohout]

Hello,

Is there option to add approval option to JIRA software project?

I see that option only in service desk project.

Can someone please describe me, how this is works or is there any option how to add approvals into Software projects.

Thank you

[Ste Wright]

Hi @Martin Kohout 

There are a few options...

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Workflows

You could try creating this with Conditions/Validators - for example:

• Create a custom Group Picker field - Approver
• Limit the transition that needs approval, using a Condition - i.e. User Is In Group Custom Field - so only specific users can transition the Issue
  • You'd need two options - Approve and Decline - going to their relevant Statuses
• Populate the Group with Approval users

This is assuming Approvers is a static field - if it's dynamic (Approver could change) - you might want to consider having a Post Function or similar, which populates the Approver.

You could also use Automation if you have that installed on your instance. 

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Apps

Look for an App which can help with this - for example...

• Group Sign-Off
• Approvals - Advanced Issue Acceptance
• ...or another App from the Marketplace

You could also consider Workflow Apps which provide approval-like functionality, alongside other features - for example, JSU Automation Suite 

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Let us know what you think!

Ste

[Tessa Tuteleers]

Hi @Martin Kohout , 

welcome to the community! 
The approval functionality itself is a JSM feature, however, we can "mock this" almost entirely with some own workflow configuration, if the approver is licensed, and you have an additional workflow app: 

• Create a "Waiting for approval status"
• Use a user custom field for your approver(s)
• Add the "Approve" and "Decline" transitions, and add a "user is in custom field" condition on them
  • This is not native I think, but a lot of apps give you this possibility like JSU, Scriptrunner, JWT,...
• If you need a notification for this user, add a custom event "JSW approval" and send a notification to the "Approver" custom field

What we can't do is let non-licensed users do these approvals, that is reserved for JSM projects.

Hope this helps! 

- Tessa

[Vicente Domínguez _Decadis AG_]

Hello @Martin Kohout and thank you @Tessa Tuteleers for mentioning us!

Yes, you could use a JWT Logical validator to check if a list of users is contained in a User Picker field with expressions like the following ones:

["user.one", "user.two", "user.three", "admin"] in toStringList(%{issue.cfUserPicker})

This expression will check if all the users of the first list are contained in the User Picker field.

["user.one", "user.two", "user.three", "admin"] any in toStringList(%{issue.cfUserPicker})

This expression will check if any of the users of the first list are contained in the User Picker field.

In addition, you could turn the first list of the expression into a dynamic list by using instead the JWT expression parser functions usersInGroup() or usersInRole(), which will return a list of the users of the group or role defined in the function.

If it fits your requirement, you could also use the validator Users are/aren't in project role to check if the users in a project role are contained in this User Picker field.

I am part of the Support Team for JWT. Please, do not hesitate to contact us if you have any doubt about JWT through our Support Service Desk.

Best regards,

Vicente

[Aleksandra Bosacka _Deviniti_]

Hello everyone!

It's Aleksandra from Deviniti - the vendor of the Approvals app.

Thank you @Ste Wright for suggesting our solution 😊

Just as you described, the Approvals - Advanced Issue Acceptance app allows the admin to configure custom approval steps in any project for any status. The configuration is pretty straightforward, as you only need to set up the context of the approval (project, issue type, status, and transitions for approve &reject). The next steps are defining the approvers (single user, group, or custom field) and lastly adding a workflow condition to the approving transition, which will prevent other users from executing this change manually.

Thanks to that, the only way to approve a software task will be via the app. 😊

For more details, I encourage you to see the app's listing on the Marketplace and documentation.

Hopefully, you'll find it beneficial!

Cheers,
Aleksandra