OOB Flow/Logic Responsible for Approval Updates in RITM Activity (Work Notes)

Damayanti Sarod
Tera Guru

Hi All,

I’m trying to understand the out-of-box (OOB) functionality in ServiceNow that adds approval-related updates to the Activity stream (Work Notes) on a Requested Item (RITM).
Specifically, when an approval is requested, approved, or rejected, entries automatically appear in the Activities section.

Which OOB Flow Designer flow, workflow, or engine is responsible for this behavior?

Are there specific business rules, script includes, or approval engine components involved in writing these updates to Work Notes?

Have added ss of RITM for reference.

5 REPLIES 5

Huynh Loc
Mega Sage

Hi @Damayanti Sarod ,

The approval stage is recorded through the “Ask for Approval” action.
Please refer to the attached image for more details.


image.png
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Hi @Huynh Loc ,

Scenario:

  • My RITM has two approvals , one is manager approval and other is group approval.
  • When the first manager approval is approved, the Approval field on the RITM changes from Requested → Approved in activity of worknote.
  • When the second approval is generated, the same field changes again from Approved → Requested.
  • After the second group approval gets approved, it changes again from Requested → Approved.
  •  

But requirement , when first approval is approved, state should remain requested until the request is approved by group approval, I tried this from flow associated with catalog item, through ask for Approval action in flow designer but is getting overridden by some other OOB server side script.
Need to know the name of that OOB server side script/flow

Ankur Bawiskar
Tera Patron

@Damayanti Sarod 

I believe it comes from platform level whether your catalog item has Flow or Workflow associated to it which uses approval activity or action

💡 If my response helped, please mark it as correct and close the thread 🔒— this helps future readers find the solution faster! 🙏

Regards,
Ankur
Certified Technical Architect  ||  10x ServiceNow MVP  ||  ServiceNow Community Leader

Hi @Ankur Bawiskar ,

Scenario:

  • My RITM has two approvals , one is manager approval and other is group approval.
  • When the first manager approval is approved, the Approval field on the RITM changes from Requested → Approved in activity of worknote.
  • When the second approval is generated, the same field changes again from Approved → Requested.
  • After the second group approval gets approved, it changes again from Requested → Approved.
  •  

But requirement , when first approval is approved, state should remain requested until the request is approved by group approval, I tried this from flow associated with catalog item, through ask for Approval action in flow designer but is getting overridden by some other OOB server side script.
Need to know the name of that OOB server side script/flow