Change Approval Policy workflow activity

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of Change Approval Policy workflow activity

    The Change Approval Policy workflow activity enables ServiceNow customers to control the approval process for change requests by applying user and group approvals based on a defined Change Approval Policy record. This activity can be included multiple times in a workflow, each referencing the same or different policies. It evaluates the change request and additional inputs to determine the applicable approval definitions and outcomes.

    Show full answer Show less

    This activity is specifically available for workflows operating on the changerequest table or its extensions.

    Key Features

    • Dynamic policy evaluation: Uses inputs from the change request and policy input scripts to apply approval definitions from matching decisions.
    • Multiple outcomes: Returns result values such as Approved, Rejected, Canceled, Skipped, or Finished to indicate the approval status.
    • Configurable input variables: Allows setting the specific Change Approval Policy, additional policy inputs, and finish conditions to manage approval lifecycle.
    • Conditional transitions: Defines workflow transitions based on approval results (Approved, Rejected, Error, Skipped), enabling flexible workflow logic.
    • Activity states management: Tracks execution states such as Executing, Waiting, Finished, Cancelled, or Error to control workflow progression and error handling.
    • Handling of pending approvals: Finish conditions can mark pending approvals as No Longer Required, useful for scenarios like putting a Change Request on hold and later resuming.

    Practical Use and Example

    For instance, in the Change Request - Normal workflow, this activity can be configured to check if a manager from the assigned group has already approved the request by setting a policy input (e.g., managerapproved). It evaluates existing approvals accordingly.

    Using the Finish condition, the activity can be completed prematurely (e.g., when the Change Request is placed on hold) by disregarding pending approvals, and restarted when the request resumes, ensuring accurate approval tracking throughout the change lifecycle.

    What to Expect

    By implementing the Change Approval Policy activity, customers can automate and customize approval workflows based on complex policy definitions, improve approval accuracy, and handle dynamic change states effectively. This results in streamlined change management processes aligned with organizational policies.

    Use the Change Approval Policy workflow activity to control the approval process for a change request by creating user and group approvals according to a change approval policy record. Multiple activities can be used in a workflow, where each activity can reference the same or different Change Approval Policies.

    Using the current change request and additional inputs defined in the Policy Input script field in the activity, you can evaluate the Change Approval Policy record, which applies the approval definitions from matching decisions.
    Note:
    This activity is only available when the workflow runs on a table that extends or is the [change_request] table.

    Results

    The activity assigns a result value according to the outcome of the applied policy. The possible result values are:
    • Approved
    • Rejected
    • Canceled
    • Skipped
    • Finished

    Input variables

    Input variables determine the initial behavior of the activity.
    Table 1. Change Approval Policy activity input variables
    Field Description
    Approval Policy The Change Approval Policy that you want to apply to the change request.
    Policy Input Policy Inputs that are defined on the Change Approval Policy record. Set additional policy inputs here.
    Finish condition Determine if the activity should complete while pending approvals remain. Use this condition if the workflow is configured to handle restarting the Change Approval Policy activity. For example, when the Change Request goes on-hold.

    Condition

    The following conditions determine which transition runs after this activity.
    Table 2. Change Approval Policy activity conditions
    Condition Description
    Approved Change request is approved when the criteria defined by applied Approval Definitions is met.
    Rejected Any rejection from applied Approval Definitions will result in the Rejected outcome.
    Error The event or condition that generates an error.
    Skipped If this condition is not configured on the activity, then the Approved condition is used. This outcome occurs for the following scenarios:
    • No decisions from the Change Approval Policy match
    • No approvals can be generated from matched decisions

    States

    The workflow engine uses the activity state to perform the next logical action on the activity.
    Table 3. Change Approval Policy activity states
    State Description
    Executing The workflow engine starts the execute function of the activity.
    Waiting The workflow engine ignores the activity until a specific event to restart the activity is fired.
    Finished The activity finished running. See the result value for the outcome of the activity.
    Cancelled This activity, or the workflow that contains this activity, was canceled.
    Error A JavaScript error occurred. Review the logs for error details.

    Example

    In this example, let us reference the Risk approvals activity in the Change Request - Normal workflow. In the workflow, the change approval policy factors if the assigned group's manager has already approved the Change Request.

    Example for Change Approval Policy Risk approvals

    You can use this activity to access the risk of the change request of a normal change policy. When this activity runs, the associated decisions executes the approvals that needs to be requested.

    Example policy input script for risk assessment
    Use the Policy Input field to set up additional inputs. In the given example, the activity defines the manager_approved property and performs the query to check if an approved record exists for the approved group's manager.
    Note:
    Ensure that the manager_approved policy input is defined in the Change Approval Policy record.

    The Finish condition field is used to complete the activity by marking pending approvals as No Longer Required. In this workflow example, when the Change Request is put on-hold, the Change Approval Policy activity is completed and the workflow disregards the pending approvals before waiting for the Change Request to resume. When the on-hold state is released, the Change Approval Policy activity is restarted.