Approval Actions are not created on their own screen; you add them to an existing Approval Process at one of its five trigger points. The steps below add actions inside the Approval Process editor in Setup. You need an Approval Process already created on the object, and any email templates or flows you plan to reference should exist first.
- Open the Approval Process
In Setup, go to Process Automation and open Approval Processes, then choose the object and click into the process you want to edit. The detail page lists each trigger point as its own related list.
- Pick the trigger point
Find the section for the moment you want, such as Initial Submission Actions, Final Approval Actions, Final Rejection Actions, or Recall Actions. For a step-level action, edit the relevant Approval Step and use its approval or rejection actions.
- Add a new action
Click Add New on that section and choose the action type: Field Update, Email Alert, Task, Outbound Message, or Flow. You can also reuse an existing action instead of building a new one.
- Define the action
Fill in the specifics, such as the field and new value for a field update, or the template and recipients for an email alert. Save the action; it now runs whenever that trigger point fires.
- Set locking and editability
On the process itself, confirm record editability (admins only, or approver plus admins) and whether the record unlocks on final approval or rejection. Activate the process so the actions take effect.
Changes a field on the submitted record, or a parent across master-detail. Optionally re-evaluates workflow rules, which is off by default.
Sends an email from a template to chosen recipients. Best kept to submission and final resolution to avoid notification fatigue.
Creates an assigned Task record so a person has a tracked follow-up tied to the approval outcome.
Sends a SOAP message to an external endpoint. Legacy; prefer a flow with HTTP callout or platform events for new work.
Runs an autolaunched flow for branching logic, related-record updates, or Apex calls the other action types cannot do.
- Final Approval Actions run only when there are no remaining steps; if you expect them earlier, you have put them at the wrong trigger.
- Record editability changes apply only to records submitted after you save; recall and resubmit to apply a new setting to in-flight records.
- Enabling Re-evaluate Workflow Rules on many field updates can create loops between the approval process and workflow rules.
- Approval Actions cannot run Apex directly; wrap that logic in an autolaunched flow and call it with a Flow action.