DOCUMENTATION
⚙️

How Approval Inbox Works

An overview of the features, who can use each part, the architecture, what the app never does, and current known limitations.

What the app solves

In Jira Service Management, approvers have no single place to see and decide every approval waiting for them, and Jira Cloud has no JQL function to find which requests a specific person approved or declined. Approval Inbox covers both gaps, inside Jira, using the native JSM approvals you already have.

Architecture overview

User (Jira user or JSM portal customer)
  |  (1) Opens the app; every call runs as that user (asUser)
  v
Approval Inbox (Forge app, runs inside Atlassian's infrastructure)
  |
  |--> Jira REST API v3 (JQL search, issue, fields, my permissions)
  |--> JSM REST API (request approvals: read and answer, pending approvals)
  v
In-product screens: My approvals, Approval report, Metrics, Issue panel, Portal

The screens

My approvals

Lists every JSM approval waiting for the current user, in any project, oldest first, with counters for pending, high priority and older than 3 days. Users can filter, open request details, and approve or decline one request or up to 25 at once. Every decision is confirmed first and checked again before it is sent.

Approval report

Extracts who approved or declined each request. Filter by approver, decision, projects, created or resolved date, and extra JQL. Pages are read automatically until the end, the extraction can be paused and continued, and the result can be downloaded as a CSV ready for Excel.

Metrics

Median stage time, approval rate, approvals waiting now, stages stuck for more than 3 days, median time per approver, who is holding approvals right now, and a summary per approver. Calculated from the extracted data, with no extra calls.

Issue panel

On service desk issues, an Approvals panel shows each approval stage, its approvers and their votes, with Approve and Decline buttons when the user can answer.

Customer portal

Portal customers who are approvers get "My approvals" in the portal profile menu, with single and bulk approve or decline.

Who can use each part

UserAccess
Any licensed Jira userMy approvals and the issue panel, for their own approvals
Jira administrators (Administer Jira)Approval report, metrics and CSV export, always
Users or groups granted "Approval Reports - View"Approval report and metrics
Users or groups granted "Approval Reports - Export"CSV download
JSM portal customersMy approvals in the customer portal

Report access is granted in Jira settings, under System, Global permissions.

What the app never does

  • Never shows or approves anything the user could not already see or approve in Jira.
  • Never stores customer data: no Forge storage, no cache, no scheduled jobs.
  • Never sends data outside Atlassian.
  • Never changes workflows, approval configuration, or project settings.
Known limitations: Forge apps do not work when an administrator uses "Log in as user"; the app shows a clear message in this case. JSM records when an approval stage ends, not when each person voted, so metrics use stage times. In the customer portal, the app is available to JSM customers; Atlassian accounts without a Jira license are not supported there.

Languages

Portuguese (Brazil), English (US).

Support

Email support@app-rl.com.