An approval sequence requires sign-off before a release can be deployed to an endpoint. Define the steps once and attach the sequence to an endpoint. Each release then needs approval at every step in order before deployment to that endpoint. A step can be approved or rejected only after every step before it is approved.
- Creating an approval sequence
- Attaching a sequence to an endpoint
- Starting an approval
- Approving a step
- Following the progress
Creating an approval sequence
- Open the user menu at the top right, then select "Admin center" and "Approval sequences".
- Select "+ Approval sequence".
- Enter a "Title" for the sequence.
- Under "Steps in sequence", enter a "Title" and an "Approving role" for each step. Select "Add Step" to add more steps.
- Save with the save icon or Ctrl+S.
For the step signed by the senior person who answers for the decision, such as a chief risk officer, select "Accountable for the use case" under its title and approving role. Do not select this for a technical review step. Only one step in a sequence can be accountable. Selecting it clears the checkbox on any other step. This does not change how approval works: steps are still signed in order, and a release is approved when every step is approved. The person who signs the accountable step for a release appears as the accountable person for that use case in the AI Register, with the date they signed.
Drag a step by its handle to reorder the steps. Anyone with the role assigned to a step can approve it. If two steps have the same role, the portal warns "You have more steps than unique roles.", since one person could approve both steps, one after the other.
On the "Approval sequences" page, "AI Assistant" can draft a sequence from a description, such as "risk review, then compliance sign-off". Review the draft before saving it.
Attaching a sequence to an endpoint
- Open the endpoint from "Endpoint" in the main menu.
- Select "Set approval sequence" and choose a sequence.
The endpoint page shows "Approval sequence:" followed by the sequence title, and "Change" lets you choose a different sequence. Every release deployed to this endpoint now requires approval through the sequence. Endpoints without a sequence accept deployments immediately.
Starting an approval
Open the release, select "Deploy release", and choose the endpoint. The endpoint entry says "Approval required". In the dialog, select "Run approval sequence". See Deploying a release to an endpoint.
Approvers for the first step receive an email when the approval starts. Approvers for each next step receive an email with a link to the approval page when the step before theirs is approved.
Approving a step
The link in the email opens the approval page. The page shows the sequence, the "Release", the "Decision flow", the endpoint, and the "Release notes". If the endpoint already runs a release, "Changes from current deployment" lists each step that this release adds, changes, or removes. For an endpoint's first deployment, the page indicates that it is the first deployment.
- Select "Approve" or "Reject".
- Type
APPROVEorREJECTto confirm, then select "Confirm".
Only users with the role assigned to the step can approve or reject it. If you open the approval page before your turn, it shows "An earlier step has to be approved first." instead of the Approve and Reject buttons. Trying to sign the step before your turn is refused with the same message. If you are not a member of the step's role, the page shows "Only members of this step's role can sign it."
Following the progress
The "Approval process" tab on the release page lists each approval started for the release, along with every step and its status: "Approved", "Waiting" or "Rejected". For each approved or rejected step, it shows who signed and when next to the status. The step also records the signer's email, IP address and browser. The release can be deployed to the endpoint after every step is approved.
A rejected step ends the approval, and the steps after it show "Canceled". Select "Restart approval process" to run the same sequence again for the same release. If the approver rejected the decision flow logic, fix the decision flow, release it again, and start an approval for the new release.
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