A human approval step is a point in the flow where the automation stops, shows a person what it is about to do, and only goes on if they approve. It is the cheapest safeguard for anything that sends something to a customer, touches money, deletes or publishes, and it is essential in flows with AI, because AI writes well and errs with the same confidence. The design is always the same, in any tool.
The design, in three steps
| 1 |
Prepare. The flow does all the work except the last step: it writes the reply, composes the e-mail, calculates the amount.
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| 2 |
Ask for approval. It sends the decider a message with what will happen (the text, the recipient, the amount) and two options: approve or reject.
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| 3 |
Wait. The flow stays paused until the answer arrives. If approved, it runs the last step; if rejected, it logs that and ends. If nobody answers, the default is to do nothing.
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Three ways to build it
| Way |
How it works |
When it suits |
| A spreadsheet with an “approved” column |
One flow writes drafts to a row; the person changes the column to “yes”; a second flow sends only the approved rows |
The simplest and most failure-proof. Fits almost anything. See connecting n8n to Google Sheets. |
| A message with buttons or links |
The flow sends the approver a message with two links, one to approve and one to reject, which call a webhook |
Quicker for the approver, on a phone. The links are webhooks: protect them. See securing n8n. |
| n8n’s own wait node |
n8n has a Wait node that pauses the flow until it receives a webhook call or until a set time; some messaging nodes also wait for a reply (check whether your version has that option) |
Everything inside one flow. Check n8n’s documentation for how your node behaves. |
What to send for approval
| When |
What |
| Always |
Money (payments, refunds, discounts), messages to customers that are not fixed, deleting or publishing. |
| In the first weeks |
Everything the AI writes for the outside, and whatever the flow does for the first time. |
| Can be skipped |
Alerts to yourself, and copies or tidying of reversible data. |
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An approval link is a key. Whoever opens it, approves. Put a long, unguessable, single-use code in it, and do not send it to an open group. See n8n webhooks: test and production.
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Show the approver everything they need to decide in one message: the final text, who it goes to, and why. If they have to open three places to decide, they will end up pressing “approve” without looking. Log who approved and when.
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Does the flow run on a server of your own and you want help with access or the domain? Open a ticket.
Open a support ticket
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