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Approval Work Items and Orchestration Work Items
Approval steps create work items assigned to users, groups, or queues. Approval steps also automatically send email notifications to approvers. Approvers complete approval work items through the Orchestration Work Guide component, email responses, or the Approval Work Items list view. Each approval work item is linked to an orchestration work item.
Required Editions
| View supported editions for Flow Approval Processes. |
Who Gets Email Notifications When Work Is Assigned
By default, when an approval step runs, the orchestration run associated with the parent approval submission creates an approval work item and assigns it to the specified user, group, or queue. The type of notification emailed to the assignee depends on the type of assignee.
To disable all email notifications to all assigned approvers and their delegates, see Control Email Notifications for All Approvals and Approval Work Items. To disable email notifications sent to all assigned approvers and their delegates for a specific flow approval process, see Control Approver Emails for a Flow Approval Process.
| Notification Recipient | DEFAULT Notification |
|---|---|
| Assigned internal user | Personalized email notification with a link to the internal record page of the record to be reviewed |
| Assigned credentialed Experience Cloud site visitor | Personalized email notification with a link to the record page of the record to be reviewed of the oldest live Experience Cloud site that they're a member of |
| Assigned group or queue of internal users | General email notification with a link to the internal record page of the record to be reviewed |
| Assigned group or queue of credentialed Aura or LWR site visitors who are all members of the same site | General email notification with a link to the record page of the record to be reviewed of the live Experience Cloud site that they're all members of |
| Assigned group or queue of credentialed Aura or LWR site visitors who are all members of one or more common sites | General email notification with a link to the record page of the record to be reviewed of the oldest live Experience Cloud site that they're all members of |
| Assigned group or queue of credentialed Aura or LWR site visitors who have no site in common | General email notification with a link to the internal record page of the record to be reviewed The link is invalid for Experience Cloud site visitors, because they don't have access to internal pages. They can use the Approval Work Item Object List page to view and access their assigned work items from an Experience Cloud site that they're a member of. |
| Assigned group or queue of internal users and credentialed Aura or LWR site visitors | General email notification with a link to the internal record page of the record to be reviewed The link is invalid for Experience Cloud site visitors, because they don't have access to internal pages. They can use the Approval Work Item Object List page to view and access their assigned work items from an Experience Cloud site that they're a member of. |
| Delegated internal user | Personalized email notification with a link to the internal record page of the record to be reviewed and a link to the approval work item |
When Assignment Notifications Are Made with the Omni-Channel Widget
When an approval step is assigned to a queue associated with the Approval Work Item object, the queue members receive notifications based on your defined routing logic in the Omni-Channel widget. The notification sent by the Omni-Channel widget is in addition to the default email notification sent to queue members. Omni-Channel notifications are sent only to the members of the assigned queue, not to members’ delegates.
Internal User Access to Approval Work Items
Internal approvers and their delegates get a link in their email notification to the related record page where they can complete their assigned approval work item in the Work Guide. They can also view and access their assigned work in the Approval Work Items list view or in their To Do List. To allow internal users to complete assigned work, before an approval submission is made, place the Orchestration Work Guide component on the related record page layout in Lightning App Builder.
Experience Cloud Site Visitor Access to Approval Work Items
Credentialed Experience Cloud site visitors usually get a link in their email notification to the related record page of the oldest live Experience Cloud site that they’re a member of. They can also view and access their assigned work in the Flow Orchestration Work Item object list view.
Before an approval submission is made, in Experience Builder, the admin sets up site visitor access to approval work items.
- Places the Flow Orchestration Work Guide component on the related record page in Aura and LWR sites.
- Adds the Approval Work Item List object page to Aura and LWR sites.
Work Assigned to an Internal User
When an approval step runs, the orchestration run associated with the parent approval submission creates an approval work item and assigns it to the specified internal user. The assigned approver and their delegate receive an email with a link to the internal related record page, notifying them that they have an approval work item to complete. The approval work item also appears in the assigned approver's To Do List. When the approver clicks the link to the approval work item, they then can complete the screen flow associated with the approval step in the Work Guide on the internal related record page.
Work Assigned to a Credentialed Experience Cloud Site Visitor
When an approval step runs, the orchestration run associated with the parent approval submission creates an approval work item and assigns it to the specified credentialed Experience Cloud site visitor. The approver receives an email that notifies them that they have an approval work item to complete. The email contains a link to the related record page on the oldest live site that they’re a member of. When the site visitor approver clicks the email link, they then complete the associated screen flow in the Work Guide on the related record page that they’ve been directed to.
Work Assigned to an Internal Group or Queue
When the approval step runs, the orchestration run associated with the parent approval submission creates a approval work item and assigns it to the specified group or queue. All users in the assigned internal group or internal queue and their delegates receive an email with a link to the internal related record page, notifying them that they have an action to complete. When an approver clicks the link in the email and the approval work item opens, they can run the screen flow in the Work Guide on the internal related record page.
An assigned approval work item is completed by the first user who approves or rejects the assigned approval work item. If two users review the approval work item simultaneously, the approver or delegate who approves or rejects the flow approval item second receives an error. After the approval work item is completed, other users from the assigned group or queue see no related work in the Work Guide component on the internal related record page.
Work Assigned to a Group or Queue of Credentialed Experience Cloud Site Visitors
When the approval step runs, the approval orchestration creates an approval work item and assigns it to the specified group or queue of credentialed Experience Cloud site visitors. Site visitors in an assigned group or queue receive an email notifying them that they have an action to complete. The email usually contains a link to the related record page of the oldest live Experience Cloud site that the visitor approvers are all members of. When a group or queue member clicks the link, the visitor is taken to the related record page of the oldest live Experience Cloud site that all group or queue members are credentialed for. From that related record page, the site visitor can complete the associated screen flow in the Work Guide.
Experience Cloud site visitors can also view approval work items assigned to them in the Approval Work Item List object page. From the Approval Work Item List, they can also access their assigned work. When the credentialed site visitor goes to the related record page of the Aura or LWR site that they’re a member of, the visitor can run the screen flow in the Work Guide.
An assigned approval work item is completed by the first credentialed site visitor who approves or rejects the approval work item. If two credentialed site visitors review the approval work item simultaneously, the one who approves or rejects the flow approval item second receives an error. After the approval work item is completed, other site visitors from the assigned group or queue see no related work in the Work Guide component on the related record page.
Approval Work Items Reassigned to a User, Group, or Queue
You can reassign open approval work items for an orchestration run associated with a parent approval submission to a different user, group, or queue. After reassignment, an approval work item is processed like it was after the orchestration run created it.
How Assigned Approvers and Their Delegates Complete Approval Work Items
Assigned approvers and their delegates can complete assigned approval work items in the Orchestration Work Guide component on the specified record page. They can also complete approval work items from the Approval Work Items list view.
By default, approvers and their delegates receive email notifications when they’re assigned an approval work item. When Enable email response from Process Automation Settings in Setup is selected, assigned approvers and their delegates can also approve or reject approval work items using email. To affect whether assigned approvers and their delegates can complete Flow Approval Processes approval work items by using email, see Control Email Completion of Flow Approval Processes Approval Work Items.
Emails to assigned approvers and their delegates can be disabled for specific flow approval processes. If a flow approval process sends no email notifications to approvers and their delegates, assigned approvers and their delegates can’t complete approval work items associated with that flow approval process by using email. For more information about stopping approval emails for a specific flow approval process, see Control Approver Emails for a Flow Approval Process.
| Approval Method | Screen Flow | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Approver or delegate completes the approval work item in the Work Guide on the record page of the record to be approved. | The screen flow referenced by the approval step associated with the approval work item runs. | To allow approvers and delegates to approve or reject approval work items in the Work Guide, add the Orchestration Work Guide component to the record page layout for the relevant object. |
| Approver or delegate completes the approval work item from the Approval Work Items list view. | The Approvals Workflow: Process Approval Submission screen flow runs. | You can’t update or replace the Approvals Workflow: Process Approval Submission screen flow that runs when an approver or delegate reviews from the Approval Work Items list view. |
| Approver or delegate replies to their email notification using a valid keyword. | No screen flow | To allow approvers and their delegates to approve or reject approval work items by replying to email notifications, two specific settings must be enabled. In Setup, select Send Approval Work Item Assignment Emails to Approvers from Approval Settings. Then in Setup, select Enable email response from Process Automation Settings |
Approval Work Item Statuses
| Approval Work Item Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Assigned |
|
| Approved |
|
| Canceled | The approver or delegate hasn't completed the approval work item, and the parent approval submission was manually canceled. |
| Error | The screen flow associated with the work item's approval step encountered an error. |
| Recalled | The approver or delegate hasn't completed the approval work item, and the parent approval submission was manually recalled. |
| Rejected |
|
| Withdrawn |
|
Approval Submission and Approval Work Item Comments
Users can add comments at different points during an approval process. Where Salesforce stores a comment depends on when someone makes it.
| Someone Makes a Comment When They | It’s Stored in the Comments field of |
|---|---|
| Submit an approval request | The approval submission record |
| Review an approval work item | The approval work item record |
| Cancel or recall an approval request | The approval submission detail record |
Orchestration Work Items
Each approval work item has an associated orchestration work item that has its own statuses and milestones.
| Orchestration Work Item Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Assigned |
|
| Completed |
|
| Work Item Milestone | Description |
|---|---|
| Start Work Item | The approval work item was created and assigned. |
| End Work Item | The assigned approver approved or rejected the associated approval work item. When the work item reaches the End Work Item milestone, the Completed By field is set to the username of the user or credentialed Experience Cloud site visitor who approved or rejected the associated approval work item. When the work item reaches this milestone, the Duration field is set to the duration of the approval step in seconds. |
| Reassign Work Item | The approval work item was reassigned. |
