About approval status (Jira Software Project)

[Barış Özer]

Hello,

I want to make an approval mechanism in my Jira Software Company-managed project.

And I can't.

How can I do it?

I want to select the person who will approve when there is a Waiting for approval status.

I want it to go into approved status when it approves.

If he doesn't approve, I want him to go to rejected status.

[Ste Wright · Accepted solution]

Hi @Barış Özer 

Natively, you can't - Approvals are a Jira Service Management feature only, and not included in Jira Software.

A version of Approvals is also coming to Jira Work Management Premium soon - see the roadmap here: https://www.atlassian.com/wac/roadmap/cloud/Approvals-in-workflows-?search=approval&p=485fbad5-3b

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There are some options though...

• Workflow Condition: Modify your Workflow to have two closed transitions, one for accepted, one for rejected. Use conditions to limit who can transition the issue through these two options - eg. User Is In Custom Field, User Is In Project Role, etc.
• Apps: Use an App from the Marketplace - for example, see some options here.

Ste

[Barış Özer]

Hi @Ste Wright 

Hello

Thank you for the answer! (:

Can you show it with a screenshot? I couldn't do it :(

It's very important to me. Thank you.

[Ste Wright]

Hi @Barış Özer 

Which option are you trying to use?

Ste

[Barış Özer]

Hi @Ste Wright 

I want to use Workflow condition.

When the status is "Waiting for approval", I want to send an e-mail to the person I want. I did it with Automation.

I want only the project role "Admin" to set the Approved and Rejected status.

[Ste Wright]

Hi @Barış Özer 

The workflow condition model comes with some caveats:

• You might need to have workflow transitions be closed - because otherwise a user could "avoid" the approval step. This means no all <> all transitions
• You might be able to mitigate that using "Previous Status" conditions, but I think it'd get quite complex

I used both a workflow condition and an automation rule to make this work.

---

Preparation:

• Modify your Workflow so there are two routes out of "Waiting for Approval"...
  • Approved - going to the next Status
  • Rejected - going to Done/Closed
• Add a post-function for the Rejected transition to add "Rejected" as the resolution (or similar)

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Workflow Condition:

For both transitions, add a condition which limits who can select these buttons - for example...

• Group-based Approvers: User Is In Group
• Field-chosen Approvers: User Is In Custom Field
• ...etc

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Automation:

Use a rule to send the email to the Approvers - for example...

• Trigger: Issue Transitioned
  • To Status = Waiting for Approval
• Action: Send Email

^ For Send Email...

• To will depend again on how you identify the Approvers - for example...
  • Group: Choose the relevant Group
  • Field: You can use a smart value, for example if the field is called "Work Approvers", it would be {{issue.Work Approvers}}
• Content could be dynamic if needed, for example...
  • To mention the Issue Key, it would be {{issue.key}}
  • To link to the issue, it could be <a href="{{issue.url}}">{{issue.key}} - {{issue.summary}}</a>

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This should limit who can transition an issue, and then send them an email asking them to approve or reject (utilising the workflow)

Ste