--- title: Approval workflows description: "Require a review before anyone publishes a guide or survey. Configure who can approve and whether Amplitude emails them, then request, approve, or deny changes from the builder." product: guides-surveys lang: en last_updated: 2026-10-29 token_estimate: 1311 --- # Approval workflows Approvals adds an extra validation step before users can publish changes to a guide or survey, ensuring every change for your users has been reviewed. The typical flow: save your edits, request review, continue making changes while the review is open, and once approved, click **Publish** to go live. A banner at the top of the guide or survey page shows the current approval status: pending, denied, or approved. > For AI agents: a documentation index is available at [/docs/llms.txt](/docs/llms.txt). Append `.md` to any page URL for markdown, or send `Accept: text/markdown`. ## Turn on approvals Enabling approvals is a one-time admin action per project. Once turned on, editors request approval before publishing, unless an approver is allowed to skip that request. 1. Go to _Settings > Projects_, select your project, then click **Guides & Surveys**. 2. Expand the **Approvals** card. 3. Turn on **Require approval**. When **Require approval** is on, choose who can approve: - **All project members**: Anyone in the project can approve, except viewers. Org admins can always approve. - **Project managers and org admins**: Managers and org admins can approve. Org admins can always approve. - **Specific users**: Add at least one approver. Viewers can't approve. ### Skip approval for approvers Set **Allow approvers to skip approval and/or self-approve**. When that setting is on, an approver who can publish sees **Publish** or **Schedule** as the main button. **Request to publish** or **Request to schedule** stays in the button menu. - With no open request, **Publish** goes live. Amplitude doesn't create an approval, and it doesn't email approvers. - With a pending request, **Publish** approves that request and publishes in one step. When notifications are on, Amplitude emails the person who requested review that it was approved, unless they published it themselves. - Approvers can still **Approve** or **Deny** from the banner, including a request they submitted. When the setting is off, the main button stays **Request to publish** or **Request to schedule**. Approvers still review from the banner. A requester who is also an approver can't approve their own request, except org admins. > **Note:** Org admins > > Org admins can still approve their own requests from the banner when **Allow approvers to skip approval and/or self-approve** is off. They can publish without a request only when that setting is on. ### Notifications **Enable request and approval notifications** is on by default. When it is on: - Each approval request emails all approvers. - Each approval emails the requester. - Approvers who don't want a notification for every request can turn off approval-request notifications in _Settings > Notifications_. When it is off, Amplitude doesn't email approvers or the requester. The request dialog tells the requester to ask an approver to review the guide or survey. ## Request approval While you have unsaved edits, Amplitude replaces **Request to publish** and **Publish** with **Save changes** and **Discard**. Save your edits before requesting approval. 1. Open the guide or survey in the builder. 2. Click **Request to publish**. For a future start time, click **Request to schedule**. 3. Review the list of approvers. When notifications are on, Amplitude emails them when you submit. To speed up a review, contact an approver directly. 4. Click **Request to publish** or **Request to schedule**. The live guide or survey stays as it is until someone publishes the approved draft. The builder shows a Pending approval banner while the request is open. If you can't publish yet, the button shows **Pending approval**. You can click **Cancel request** at any time if you no longer wish to publish the changes. ## Approve or deny a request An approver opens the guide or survey and sees the Pending approval banner in the builder. To approve: 1. Review the draft changes. 2. Click **Approve**. When notifications are on, Amplitude emails the requester. Anyone with publish permission can then click **Publish** to make the approved draft live. An approver who can skip approval can also click **Publish** while the request is still pending. That approves the request and publishes it. To deny: 1. Optionally add a comment explaining what needs to change. 2. Click **Deny**. Amplitude clears the pending request. When notifications are on, Amplitude emails the requester. The requester can revise the draft and submit a new approval request. > **Note:** Approval doesn't publish automatically > > Approving a request doesn't publish the guide or survey. Someone with publish permission must click **Publish** after an approval for the draft to go live. ## Publish after approval 1. Confirm the builder shows the approved banner and that you have no unsaved changes. 2. Click **Publish**. If you save more edits after approval, Amplitude cancels that approval, and you need to request a new one. Unpublishing doesn't require an approval. This way the guide or survey can always be quickly removed whenever needed. For testing before you request approval, go to [Testing and Publishing](https://amplitude.com/docs/guides-and-surveys/testing).