When Diego, Northwoods Outfitters' operations lead, submits a revised safety procedure for review, it lands in the approvals inbox of every designated approver — in this case the compliance manager and the site supervisor. Neither has to go looking for it. They open Approvals from the sidebar, see Diego's submission waiting, and can approve or send it back with a note in under a minute.
This guide covers the three tabs in the approvals inbox, how to approve or reject a request, and how a process-publish workflow surfaces here.
Before you start
- Any workspace member can view approvals where they are listed as an approver or submitter.
- The All tab is visible only to admins and owners. Members see only Awaiting my approval and My submissions.
- There is no module toggle — the Approvals inbox is always available regardless of which modules are enabled.
The three tabs
Navigate to Approvals (/approvals) in the left sidebar. Three tabs appear at the top:
| Tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Awaiting my approval | Requests that are pending AND you are a named approver on at least one approval round |
| My submissions | All requests you submitted, regardless of status |
| All (admin/owner only) | Every approval request in the workspace — pending, approved, rejected, and cancelled |
The active tab is underlined in sage. Click a tab to switch; the list updates immediately.
Step 1: Review a pending request
On the Awaiting my approval tab, each card shows:
- The resource name (e.g. the process title being submitted for publish)
- The current overall status badge
- Who submitted it and when
- The approval round chips — one chip per designated approver, showing their name and whether they have already approved, rejected, or are still pending
If a chip shows your name with no checkmark or X, the request is waiting for your action.
Step 2: Approve a request
Click Approve on the request card. The approval is recorded immediately and a success toast confirms. The card disappears from your Awaiting my approval tab because no action is left for you.
If all required approvers have approved, the overall status changes to Approved and the originating workflow (e.g. a process publish request) advances automatically.
Step 3: Reject a request
Click Reject on the request card. A dialog opens with a required Reason for rejection field. Describe what needs to change — for example, "Step 4 references the old fall-protection spec; update to version 3.1 before re-submitting."
Click Reject in the dialog to confirm. The reason is recorded against the approval round. The status on the card changes to Rejected. The submitter can see the reason on their My submissions tab.
A rejected approval ends the review cycle. The submitter typically makes corrections and submits a new approval request from the source resource.
Step 4: Cancel a request (admin/owner only)
Admins and owners see a Cancel button on pending requests they did not personally submit. Use this to withdraw a request that was submitted in error. Cancellation is immediate and cannot be undone. The request moves to cancelled status on the All tab.
How process publish requests reach the inbox
The Process module has an approval workflow for publishing procedures. When someone clicks Submit for review on a draft process, SPLX OS creates an approval request and routes it to the configured approvers. Those approvers see the request appear on their Awaiting my approval tab.
Once all rounds are approved, the process moves to Active (published) status. If any round is rejected, the process stays in Draft and the author is notified.
The old /process/approvals URL redirects to /approvals — both paths reach the same inbox.
Tips
- If you approve a request and then notice it should not have been approved, there is no undo. Notify the submitter and ask them to take corrective action in the source resource.
- On the All tab, older requests accumulate over time. Use your browser's search (Ctrl+F / Cmd+F) to find a specific resource name while the tab is active.
- If someone submits a process and you are not seeing the request in Awaiting my approval, check that you are listed as an approver in the process's approval configuration — the inbox only surfaces rounds assigned to you specifically.