# Introducing Approval Flows for Templates > Approval flows let your team and your clients approve a template before the Orshot API and your automations generate anything from it - **Author**: Rishi Mohan - **Published**: 2026-09-30 - **Tags**: Updates, Features, Approvals - **Read time**: 3 min read - **URL**: https://orshot.com/blog/introducing-approval-flows --- Most Orshot templates end up wired into something that runs without anyone watching: an n8n workflow, a Zapier zap, a nightly API job. That's the point of them. It's also why a wrong logo or an unchecked claim in a template never stays one mistake. It goes out in every render until someone notices. Approval flows put a review between the design and the automation. Edit and preview a template as much as you like. The API renders it only once the right people have approved it. ## How it works ![How an approval flow works: a template moves from Draft through Brand review and Legal review to Automation approved, and Request changes sends it back to Draft](https://orshot.com/docs/approval-flows/explainer-how-it-works.webp) An approval flow is a set of stages. A template moves left to right: Draft, then one or more reviews, then Automation approved. In a review, approvers approve it or request changes with a comment. A change request sends it back to Draft, and earlier approvals stop counting. Each flow is a board with a column per stage. Cards say what they're waiting on, and the ones waiting on you have Approve right on them. ![The Approvals board with Draft, Brand review, Legal review and Automation approved columns](https://orshot.com/help/approval-flows/first-flow-3-board.webp) Start from a preset (Simple approval, Brand and legal, Agency and client or Marketing production), rename anything, then add templates. [Set up your first approval flow](https://orshot.com/help/set-up-your-first-approval-flow) walks through it. ## What your automations see ![What automation sees: a render returns 403 in Draft or review, 200 in Automation approved, and the approved design keeps rendering while it is edited](https://orshot.com/docs/approval-flows/explainer-automation.webp) While a flow needs approval for automation, every render through the API, n8n, Make, Zapier, workflows and agents checks the template first. Until it's approved, the render returns `403 template_not_approved`. Nothing renders, no credits are used and nothing is queued. An approval covers the design people looked at. Editing a template that's ready for automation starts with a choice: keep it live and approve your changes when you're done, send it back to review, or send it to Draft. While you edit, automation keeps rendering the approved design, so a half-finished change never reaches production. Previews and downloads in the studio are never blocked. More in [how to require approval for automation](https://orshot.com/help/require-approval-for-automation). ## Stages have types and rules ![The six stage types: Open, In review, Approved, Done, Rejected and Archived](https://orshot.com/docs/approval-flows/explainer-stage-types.webp) Every stage has a type, and its own rules: whether the design can be edited there, what automation can render, how many approvals it needs and where the template goes next. ![Stage rules grouped by editing and automation, moving templates in, reviews, and what happens next](https://orshot.com/docs/approval-flows/explainer-stage-rules.webp) Every rule is explained in [Approval flow key terms](https://orshot.com/docs/approval-flows/key-terms). ## Approve from the board or the studio ![The Approve dialog, saying the template moves from 'Brand review' to 'Legal review' once approved](https://orshot.com/help/approval-flows/approve-1-approve-dialog.webp) Approve from a card, or open the template in the studio. Its Approvals menu shows the stage, what it's waiting on and what you can do. ![The Approvals menu in the studio for a template in 'Brand review', with the design locked](https://orshot.com/help/approval-flows/approve-3-studio-approvals-menu.webp) Comments with @mentions sit next to the design, and the Activity tab keeps every move and decision. Step by step: [how to approve or request changes](https://orshot.com/help/approve-or-request-changes). ## Who can approve ![Owner, Admin, Member and Reviewer compared across what each can do in approval flows](https://orshot.com/docs/approval-flows/explainer-roles.webp) Owners and admins set flows up. Members add templates and submit them. Reviewer is a new role for people outside your team, like a client or your legal team. They see only the flows you give them, and they can comment, approve and download PNG or PDF. ![The five access levels next to an example flow that gives access to a person, a group, a role and a client](https://orshot.com/docs/approval-flows/explainer-access.webp) Approving always needs Approve access in the flow. Give it to a person, a group or a whole role, in every stage or just one. See [roles and access](https://orshot.com/docs/approval-flows/roles-and-access), or [invite a client to approve](https://orshot.com/help/invite-a-client-to-approve). ## For agents and the API Approvals come with their own tools for [Orshot for Agents](https://orshot.com/agents), so Claude or ChatGPT can submit a template, check where it stands or leave a comment for you. The Approvals API is available on Enterprise. Details in [how to use approvals from the API or an agent](https://orshot.com/help/use-approvals-from-the-api). ## Try it Approval flows are in every Scale and Enterprise workspace today, under **Approvals** in the sidebar. The full guide starts at [What are approval flows?](https://orshot.com/docs/approval-flows/introduction) The [pricing page](https://orshot.com/pricing) lists how many flows and stages each plan includes. Tell me what your review process looks like and I'll help you map it.