ObjectOSApprovals
Submit records for sign-off, act on requests assigned to you, and always know where every approval stands.
Some records need a sign-off before they move forward — an expense over a limit, a discount, a leave request. When that happens, ObjectOS creates an approval request: a live, system-managed record that tracks that one submission from the moment it's sent until someone approves or rejects it. You never create or edit these tracking records yourself — the system keeps them up to date as decisions are made.
This page covers both sides of the process: submitting something for approval, and acting on requests that are waiting on you.
Your approval inbox
Everything approval-related lives in one place: Account → Inbox → Approvals. Open the Account app (it's available to everyone), expand Inbox in the left sidebar, and pick Approvals.
The list has view tabs across the top, so you can slice the same inbox four ways:
| View tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| My Pending | Requests waiting on you to decide. This is your to-do list. |
| I Submitted | Requests you sent for approval — check here to see where your own submissions stand. |
| Completed | Requests that have been decided, approved or rejected. |
| All | Every approval request you're allowed to see. |
When there's nothing waiting on you, My Pending shows the empty state "No pending approvals — You're all caught up." That's the screen you want to see at the end of the day.
Tip: Bookmark the Approvals inbox, or just glance at the Needs your attention list on the console home — pending approvals appear there too, with how long they've been waiting.
What an approval request is
| It is… | It is not… |
|---|---|
| A live instance tracked per submission — one request per record sent for approval | A copy of the record itself |
| System-managed — created, updated, and closed automatically as decisions happen | Something you edit by hand |
| Your audit trail — who submitted, who's assigned, what was decided, and when | A one-time notification that disappears |
Because each submission gets its own request, resubmitting a record after a rejection starts a fresh request — the old one stays in Completed as history.
Acting on a request
When a request is routed to you, two things happen:
- You get a notification — the bell in the top bar shows an unread badge, and the item appears in Needs your attention on the console home and in Account → Inbox → Notifications.
- The record shows approval actions for you — open the record in question and you'll see Approve and Reject as record actions. These buttons appear only for the assigned approver; other people viewing the record won't see them.
| To… | Do this |
|---|---|
| See what's waiting on you | Account → Inbox → Approvals → My Pending, or the bell / Needs your attention |
| Review the details | Open the record from the request — read the highlights and field sections like any other record |
| Decide | Use the Approve or Reject record action |
| Confirm it went through | The request moves to Completed, and the submitter is notified |
Tip: Read the record, not just the request. The approval request tells you that something needs a decision; the record itself tells you whether to approve it.
Records locked while pending
Depending on how the approval is configured, a record may be locked while its request is pending — fields can't be edited until a decision is made. This protects the approver: what they approve is exactly what was submitted, with no quiet edits in between. If you need to change a locked record, ask the approver to reject it (or withdraw it, where your app allows), make your changes, and resubmit.
App-provided review queues
Some apps add their own curated review-queue page — for example an "Approvals" page in the app's navigation that shows just the items relevant to that team, pre-filtered and ready to work through. Use it when it's there; it's the same underlying requests, just a friendlier lens. Your Account → Inbox → Approvals inbox always remains the complete, everything-in-one-place view.
Where to go next
| What now | Read |
|---|---|
| Tour the console as an everyday user | Using ObjectOS |
| Work with the records you're approving | Records |
| Keep up with everything else routed to you | Notifications |
| Slice lists the way approvers do | Views |