LEARN. PRACTICE. GROW.Concept and mechanism
Flow approval processes organize work through stages, steps, and decisions. Structure should reflect who reviews, progression conditions, and what happens on failure, rejection, or recall. An Approved picklist value does not itself implement assignments and reviews. Record-triggered approval processes begin after saving. When a submission is recalled, active work and open items follow the documented cancellation and recall-path sequence; recall must not be interpreted as approval of pending decisions. Before activation, confirm associated flows and required configuration are defined and tested with the people who will participate.
Guided application
An approval can resume after data has changed. Referenced records can refresh on resumption and must not implicitly serve as a snapshot of submission time. If the business needs version comparison, preserve evidence and define decisions for material changes. Agentforce can help interpret language or prepare an action, but an exact authorization rule should remain in a controlled, testable capability. Do not treat fluent responses as proof of correct calculation or grant excessive privileges to eliminate rejections. Evaluate responses, actions, and refusal cases in suitable environments, keeping decision responsibility explicit and providing an alternative when automation cannot complete the task.
An amount changes from 12,000 to 19,000 during a wait. Approval must know which version was submitted and whether renewed review is required. An agent may summarize the difference but should not invent an authorization limit from the request’s tone.
Common pitfalls
Record variable treated as snapshot; recall treated as approval; final state without version; probabilistic interpretation treated as an exact authorization rule.
Related topics: Requirements, access, and platform extensions · Relationships, lifecycle, and reporting · Fields, migrations, and external data
Relate decisions to concrete evidence and conditions. Automate actions without losing responsibility or the evaluated version.
Reference: Flow Approval Processes · Platform App Builder guide SU 26