Approval Flows

Design approval workflows — from auto-approve to multi-step escalation chains.

Approval spectrum#

LumenFlow supports a spectrum of approval behaviors — from full autonomy (auto-approve) to full control (block). You choose where each action type falls on this spectrum.

Approval types#

Auto-approve#

Low-risk actions execute immediately:

  • Reading calendar events
  • Searching documents
  • Generating summaries (no external send)

Rule-based#

Actions matching specific criteria are handled automatically:

  • Emails under 500 words — auto-approve
  • Calendar events within business hours — auto-approve
  • Slack messages to bot channels — auto-approve

Manual approval#

The user reviews and approves each action individually. This is the default for all actions without a rule.

Escalation#

Actions are routed to a specific person or team:

  • High-cost actions — finance team approval
  • External communications — manager approval
  • Data exports — security team approval

Block#

Certain actions are never allowed:

  • Deleting production data
  • Sending to specific email domains
  • Exceeding cost thresholds

Creating an approval flow#

  1. Go to Settings → Governance
  2. Click New Rule
  3. Define the trigger (action type, connection, conditions)
  4. Select the approval behavior
  5. Set priority (higher priority rules are evaluated first)

success Start with manual approval for everything. As you observe patterns, add auto-approve rules for low-risk, repetitive actions.