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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. The orchestration run then assigns it to the specified user, group, or queue. The type of notification emailed to the assignee depends on the type of assignee.
To turn off all email notifications to all assigned approvers and their delegates, see Control Email Notifications for All Approvals and Approval Work Items. To turn off 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 (without unanimous approval) | General email notification with a link to the internal record page of the record to be reviewed |
| Assigned group of internal users (with unanimous approval) | Personalized 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 live site (without unanimous approval) | 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 the same live site (with unanimous approval) | Personalized 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, live sites (without unanimous approval) | 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 of credentialed Aura or LWR site visitors who are all members of one or more common, live sites (with unanimous approval) | 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 all members of |
| Assigned group or queue of credentialed Aura or LWR site visitors who have no live site in common (without unanimous approval) | 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 of credentialed Aura or LWR site visitors who have no live site in common (with unanimous approval) | Personalized 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 (without unanimous approval) | 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 of internal users and credentialed Aura or LWR site visitors (with unanimous approval) | Personalized 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
Approval steps assigned to queues associated with the Approval Work Item object trigger Omni-Channel notifications. Queue members receive these 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. Only members of the assigned queue receive Omni-Channel notifications. Delegates for queue members don't receive Omni-Channel notifications.
Internal User Access to Approval Work Items
Internal approvers and their delegates receive an email notification with a link to the related record page. They complete their approval work item in the Work Guide on that page. They can also view and access their assigned work in the Approval Work Items list view or in their To-Do List. Before users make approval submissions, 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 receive an email notification with a link to the related object detail page. For an individual site visitor, the link goes to their oldest live Experience Cloud site. For groups or queues, the link destination depends on what live sites the members have in common. They can also view and access their assigned work in the Approval Work Item object list view.
Before the credentialed Experience Cloud site visitors submit approvals, configure Experience Cloud site pages in Experience Builder.
- Place the Flow Orchestration Work Guide component on the related object detail page in Aura and LWR sites.
- Add the Approval Work Item List object page to Aura and LWR sites.
Work Assigned to an Internal User
When an approval step runs, the associated orchestration run 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. The email notifies 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 email link, they can complete the screen flow 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 associated orchestration run creates and assigns an approval work item 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 object detail page on the oldest live site that they’re a member of. When the site visitor approver clicks the email link, they can complete the screen flow in the Work Guide on the target object detail page.
Work Assigned to an Internal Group or Queue
When the approval step runs, the associated orchestration run creates an approval work item and assigns it to the specified group or queue. All users in the assigned group or queue and their delegates receive an email notification with a link to the internal related record page. When an approver clicks the email link, they can complete the screen flow in the Work Guide on the internal related record page.
The first user who approves or rejects the assigned approval work item triggers the completion of the approval work item. If two users review the approval work item simultaneously, the user who approves or rejects the flow approval item second receives an error. After approval work item completion, other group or queue members see no related work in the Work Guide.
Work Assigned to an Internal Group Requiring Unanimous Approval
When the approval step with unanimous approval runs, the associated orchestration run creates a child approval work item for each group member. It also creates a single parent approval work item assigned to the group. Each group member and their delegates receive a personalized email notification with a link to the internal related record page. Group members or delegates click the email link and run the associated screen flow in the Work Guide on the internal related record page.
After all group members or their delegates approve their child work items, the orchestration run sets the parent work item status to Approved. If any group member or their delegate rejects a work item, the orchestration run changes pending child work item statuses from Assigned to Withdrawn. It then sets the approval step status to Rejected.
Admins can view the parent work item that tracks overall progress for the approval step.
Work Assigned to a Group or Queue of Credentialed Experience Cloud Site Visitors
When the approval step runs, the associated orchestration run creates an approval work item. It assigns the approval work item 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 object detail page on their oldest common live Experience Cloud site.
When a group or queue member clicks the link, they can complete the associated screen flow in the Work Guide. Experience Cloud site visitors can also view and access their assigned approval work items in the Approval Work Item List object page.
The first credentialed site visitor who approves or rejects the assigned approval work item triggers the completion of the approval work item. If two credentialed site visitors review simultaneously, the second one to respond receives an error. After approval work item completion, other group or queue members see no related work in the Work Guide.
Work Assigned to a Group of Credentialed Experience Cloud Site Visitors Requiring Unanimous Approval
When the approval step runs, the associated orchestration run creates a parent work item and assigns it to the group. It then creates and assigns a child approval work item to each group member. Site visitors in the assigned group receive a personalized email, notifying them that they have an action to complete. The email usually contains a link to the related object detail page on their oldest common live Experience Cloud site.
When a group member clicks the link, the visitor can complete the associated screen flow in the Work Guide.
After all group members complete their child work items, the orchestration run sets the status of the parent work item to Approved. If any group member or their delegate rejects a work item, the orchestration run changes pending child work item statuses from Assigned to Withdrawn. It then sets the approval step status to Rejected.
Admins can view the parent work item that tracks overall progress for the approval step.
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.
You can't reassign approval work items from approval steps that require unanimous approval. If a group member or their delegate can’t complete their child approval work item, an admin can complete it on their behalf.
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 via 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.
You can also stop emails to assigned approvers and their delegates for specific flow approval processes. If a flow approval process sends no email notifications, assigned approvers and their delegates can't complete approval work items 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 by using a valid keyword. | No screen flow | For approvers and delegates to approve or reject approval work items by email, enable two specific settings. 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. |
