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Pending Approvals

Overview

The Pending Approvals feature is the central inbox for approval workflow requests. Approvers review and act on submissions; requesters track the status of their own items.

With this feature, you can:

  • Approve or reject pending requests with optional comments.
  • Filter by status and module.
  • View module-specific details for API, Subscription, Application, and Environment requests.
  • Track your own submitted requests in a separate tab.

Approval decisions on this page are approve or reject.


Why This Matters

  • Single place to process API, subscription, application, and environment approval requests.
  • Requesters can monitor status without approver access.
  • Module-specific detail views support informed approve/reject decisions.

Scope

  • My Approvals tab — approver inbox.
  • My Request for Approvals tab — requester view of submitted items.
  • Status and module filters; search by workflow name or approval subject.
  • Approve, reject, and comment actions.
  • Submit for approval flow from My APIs (API module).
  • Subscription and application approval requests.
  • Environment promotion requests submitted from Promote Environment.

Outcome

  • Governed changes approved or rejected with audit comments.
  • Requesters informed of final status.
  • API onboarding changes reviewed before publication when a workflow is attached.
  • Environment promotions applied only after workflow approval when required.

Prerequisites

Required Access and Permissions

Users must have:

  • API Manager access.
  • Permission to view pending approvals (approver or requester tab as applicable).

System / Technical Requirements

  • At least one Workflow configured with Approver Groups.
  • For API submissions: workflow attached to the API; endpoint changes and marketplace tag present (see Submit for approval below).
  • For Environment submissions: an Environment-module workflow attached; promote via Promote Environment.

Tabs

Tab Purpose
My Approvals Inbox for users who can approve — shows items awaiting your decision
My Request for Approvals Shows requests you submitted and their status

If you do not have approver access, only My Request for Approvals is shown.


Control Options / behavior
Search My Approvals: Search by Workflow nameMy Requests: Search by Approval for
Status Type All, Pending, Approved, Rejected
Module All, API, Subscription, Application, Environment

Step-by-Step Implementation

Approving or Rejecting a Request

Step 1: Navigate to Pending Approvals

  • From the left navigation panel, open Approval Workflow → Pending Approvals.

Step 2: Open My Approvals

  • Select the My Approvals tab.

Step 3: Locate a Request

  • Use search and filters to find the request.
  • Review columns on the approvals list: Workflow Name, Module, Submitted date & time, Status, View.

Step 4: Open the Approve Dialog

  • Select View (eye icon) on the row.
  • For actionable pending items on My Approvals, the dialog title is Approve.
  • For requester or finalized items, the dialog title is View (Close only).

Step 5: Review Module-Specific Details

Review the summary for the request module:

API module

  • API Name, submitted date and time.
  • Changes header shows how many changes were made (for example, 3 Changes made).
  • Changes list: Change (added / updated / deleted), Key, Value.
  • Optional Comments field below the changes list.

Subscription and Application modules

Both modules share the same summary list and detail view.

  • Summary list: Approval for (Creation, Updation, or Deletion), Application name, API/API Group, Submitted date & time, View.
  • Open View on a summary row for the detail view: Environment Name, Domains, API/API group pills, plan and rate details, and optional Custom Attributes.
  • For OAuth-enabled APIs: OAuth enabled API pills with Scope checkboxes — approvers can select or unselect scopes per API before approving from the detail view. Consumers configure initial scope selections during application creation or on the Details tab when editing.
  • Reject (with optional comments) from the Approve dialog that shows the summary list; open View on a summary row for details, where you can also Approve when the item is actionable.

Environment module

Triggered when a user selects Submit for Approval from Promote Environment and an Environment workflow is attached.

  • Summary list: Approval for (Promoting), API name, Environment, Submitted date & time, View.
  • Open View on a summary row for the detail view: Target environment and promotion summary (published URLs and environment mapping).
  • From the detail view, select Approve (or Close when read-only). Reject (with optional Comments) from the Approve dialog that shows the summary list.

Step 6: Approve or Reject

  • Optionally enter Comments below the summary list (or changes list for API) in the Approve dialog.
  • Select Approve or Reject from the Approve dialog, or Approve from the detail view after opening View on a summary row for Application, Subscription, or Environment.
  • The approvals list refreshes and status updates to Approved or Rejected.

Read-only cases: On My Request for Approvals, pending items are view-only (Close only). Finalized items show the stored comment.


Tracking Your Own Requests

Step 1: Open My Request for Approvals

  • Select the My Request for Approvals tab.

Step 2: Review Submissions

  • List columns: Approval For, Module, Submitted date & time, Status, View.
  • Select View to see details. Pending items are read-only until finalized.

Submitting an API for Approval (My APIs)

API-module workflows are triggered when a user submits changes from Manage APIs → My APIs.

Step 1: Open the API

  • Go to Manage APIs → My APIs and open the API details or complete onboarding through step three.

Step 2: Verify Prerequisites

Submit for approval is available when:

  • An approval workflow is attached to the API.
  • At least one endpoint change exists.
  • A marketplace tag is present.
  • The API is not already in a pending or scheduled approval state.

Step 3: Submit

  • Select Submit for approval on the API details page, or Submit for approval on onboarding step three when conditions are met.
  • In the Submit for approval modal, select Select the type of change: Major, Minor, or Patch.
  • Select Submit for approval.

Step 4: After Submission

  • The button changes to Submitted & approval pending (disabled).
  • My APIs list status shows Approval pending.
  • Approvers process the request in My Approvals on this page.

The API remains unpublished until approved through the workflow.


Understanding the Interface

My Approvals list

Column Description
Workflow Name Name of the workflow that routed the request
Module API, Subscription, Application, or Environment
Submitted date & time When the request was submitted
Status Pending, Approved, or Rejected
View Open the Approve or View dialog

My Request for Approvals list

Column Description
Approval For Subject of the request (for example, API or application name)
Module API, Subscription, Application, or Environment
Submitted date & time When the request was submitted
Status Pending, Approved, or Rejected
View Open read-only or finalized detail view

Empty state message: "No pending approvals to show."


Feature Relationship
Workflows Defines which actions require approval
Approver Group Users who receive items in My Approvals
Onboard APIs API onboarding where submit-for-approval may apply
Publish an API Direct publish or submit-for-approval from My APIs
Promote an Environment Environment promotion that may submit for approval

Best Practices

Practice Reason
Review full module details before approving API changes show endpoint-level diffs; Application and Environment details show plan or promotion context
Add comments on reject Helps requesters understand what to fix
Use Status Type filter Focus on Pending items in My Approvals
Submit API changes only when workflow is attached Submit button requires workflow and prerequisites

Troubleshooting

Issue Possible Cause Resolution
No items in My Approvals No pending requests for your approver groups Confirm workflows assign your group and requests were submitted
Submit for approval not shown Workflow not attached or prerequisites missing Attach workflow; add endpoint changes and marketplace tag
Button shows Submitted & approval pending Request already submitted Wait for approver action or check My Request for Approvals
Approve/Reject not available Viewing from requester tab or item already finalized Use My Approvals for pending actionable items
Empty list No matching filter results Reset Status Type and Module filters
Environment request not appearing Environment workflow missing or promote not submitted for approval Attach an Environment workflow; submit from Promote Environment

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I bulk-approve multiple requests?

No. Each request is opened and acted on individually via View.

Can requesters approve their own requests?

My Request for Approvals is read-only for pending items. Approvers act from My Approvals.

Why do I only see My Request for Approvals?

If your role does not include approver access, only the requester tab is shown. You can track submissions there, but approve or reject actions happen on My Approvals.

What modules appear in Pending Approvals?

API, Subscription, Application, and Environment. Use the Module filter to narrow the approvals list.

After I approve an API request, is the API published automatically?

Yes. Once the request is approved, the API is published and becomes available in the marketplace.

Tip

Configure Workflows and Approver Group before testing Submit for approval from My APIs or Submit for Approval from Promote Environment. Verify the full path: submit → My Approvals → approve → confirm status updates.