How to trigger the approval to CI approval group in change using flow designer

[Yakshitha]

How to trigger the approval to CI approval group in change using flow designer

[Connectmustaq]

Hi @Yakshitha ,

To trigger approval to the CI approval group in a Change record using ServiceNow Flow Designer, you typically do the following:

1. Identify the approval group from the associated Configuration Item (CI) on the Change. This is usually a reference field on the CI record (like "change_control" or a custom support group field).

2. Use a script or a subflow in Flow Designer to collect the approval group(s) related to all affected CIs for the change. This can be done by querying the "task_ci" table for all CIs linked to the Change, then extracting their approval or support groups.

3. Once you have the approval group(s), use the Flow Designer's "Ask for Approval" action targeting these groups. Ensure the approval record is linked to the Change request itself, not the group.

4. Handle cases where no approval group is found by specifying a fallback approver group (like "Change Admins") to avoid approvals being skipped.

Key considerations:

• The approval action must send approval requests on the Change Request record, not directly on the Group record (which causes errors).

• You may need to use a script action inside the Flow to gather groups dynamically based on affected CIs.

• You can also leverage Change Approval Policy flows if using them, but manual approval in Flow Designer requires the "Ask for Approval" action configured correctly.

You may find below thread helpful:

• https://www.servicenow.com/community/itsm-forum/how-to-trigger-an-approval-to-group-through-flow-des...
• https://www.servicenow.com/community/developer-forum/how-to-ask-for-affected-ci-support-group-approv...
• https://www.servicenow.com/community/cmdb-forum/is-there-any-option-to-trigger-approvals-based-on-se...

If it is helpful, please hit the thumbs button please mark the answer as correct based on the impact!!

Kind Regards,

Shaik Mohammed Mustaq

[Connectmustaq]

Hi @Yakshitha 

If my response helped please mark it correct and close the thread so that it benefits future readers.

Thanks & Regards,

Mohammed Mustaq Shaik

[kaushal_snow]

@Yakshitha ,

You would build a flow that starts when a change record is created or updated and then use a Get Records step to fetch the CI linked to the change (for example via the Affected CI or Task CI [task_ci] table), extract the approval group field from those CI records, then feed that group (or groups) into the Ask for Approval action within the flow and set the approval target to the retrieved group so the approval request goes to the correct CI approval group rather than a static group; you can optionally wrap it in a sub flow so it’s reusable across change models.......

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