RITM has multiple requests(group1,group2 ), if g1 got approved then g2 requests no longer required

[RahulRAJAS]

Hi All
I have two subflows attached to a flow. the subflow 1 triggers when the space is one of 1, 2, 3 subflow 2 triggers when the space is 3 4 5 I have selected 1 and 4 so that both subflows trigger
and in subflow 1 it will go for approval request once it is approved then only catalog task has to be created and in subflow 2 it will go for approval request once it is approved then only catalog task has to be created.
both the flows are linked with do the following in parallel action.
so both are independent.
but once the RITM is created and approval requests are created, if I approve for 1 then automatically the approval requests for 4 is becoming no longer required and catalog task is getting created, why?

[Ankur Bawiskar]

@RahulRAJAS 

there are challenges when parallel approval comes into flow.

when you use "Do the following in parallel" flow logic and use multiple "Ask for Approval" then Decision from 1st approval is being applied to all the approvals

see these blogs and the KB from ServiceNow with a workaround

Parallel Approvals in Flow Designer 

Parallel Approvals in Flow Designer 

the below KB talks about the issue you are facing and a possible workaround

Using Parallel Approvals in Flow Designer is only respecting the Approval Decision of the First Appr...

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

[RahulRAJAS]

Thanks Ankur for your time.

[M Iftikhar · Accepted solution]

Hi @RahulRAJAS,

I have identified the cause of the behavior you are seeing where the first approval decision triggers a "No Longer Required" state for parallel approval tasks.

Cause:
When multiple Ask for Approval actions run inside a "Do the following in parallel" block, each action creates a "record watcher" on the target record (the RITM). By default, these watchers monitor the shared Approval field on the RITM. Once the first subflow receives an approval, it updates that field, which signals the other record watchers that the approval process is complete. This results in the system automatically cancelling the remaining approvals.

Solution:
To make these approvals truly independent, you must remove the value in the Approval Field within the Ask for Approval action settings in both subflows.

By emptying this field, the action will no longer create a record watcher. Each branch will now wait exclusively for its specific approval task to be completed, regardless of what happens in parallel branches.

Since the system will no longer automatically update the RITM’s "Approval" field, you may need to add an Update Record action later in your flow to manually set the RITM to "Approved" once both parallel paths have finished.

Related KB: Using Parallel Approvals in Flow Designer is only respecting the Approval Decision of the First Appr...

If my response helped, please mark it as the accepted solution so others can benefit as well.

[RahulRAJAS]

Thanks Iftikhar, it worked.