Internal User Approval
Internal User Approval - How It Works?
Internal users (team members who already have a Jira account in the project) can participate in the approval process. Once an approval step including them is triggered, they are notified and can take action.
Receiving Approval Request Emails
When included in an approval step, internal users receive an Action Required email. These emails contain:
View all pending approvals – shows all pending approvals.
Click here to review and respond to the request – opens the related Jira work item with the approval view.
Direct action buttons – Approve, Reject, or Abstain directly from the email.
Email action
The behavior of these action buttons depends on global settings. Admins can configure options such as enabling/disabling Abstain option, showing quick action buttons, and more.
Enable actions without login (disabled by default):
Clicking an action button opens the Jira work item in Jira instance.
The chosen action is highlighted and the current approval status is displayed.
If Require comments on all actions is enabled, user must enter a comment before submitting.
Enable actions without login (enabled):
Clicking an action button opens a Jira work item with confirmation screen generated by Approval Path app.
After confirming, a message appears: Your action has been submitted.
The user can then review the Jira ticket in the Approval Path window.
The following email notification settings are configurable in the global settings:
Enable or disable action buttons in notification emails
Enable or disable actions without login
Enable or disable quick action buttons
Require comments for approval actions
Additional customization options as needed
Alternatively, clicking “Click here to review and respond to the request” opens the Approval Path view inside Jira, where the user can take action.
Approval Path in Jira
Internal users can also manage approvals directly within Jira using the Approval Path app. This provides:
Approvals – a list of approvals awaiting your action.
Quick actions – Approve, Reject, Abstain, or Open approval (hover to reveal action buttons).
Activity – a list of approval activities
Delegate – see and create their delegations.
Preferences – adjust how Approval Path is displayed.
If the user is an admin, additional tabs are available in the Approval Path view. For details, see how global view, project view, and personal view work in the Approval Path app and how each user role can use them.
For details on how external users can access Jira content, see the External User Dashboard documentation. Any user can create an account and use the external dashboard, but managing approvals directly within Jira is generally more convenient for internal users.