@netpad/netpad-ext-approval-gate

Human-in-the-loop approval workflow extension for NetPad.

Overview

This extension provides an Approval Gate workflow node that pauses workflow execution until a human approves, rejects, or takes other action. Perfect for:

• 💰 Expense approvals — Route spending requests to managers
• 🔐 Access requests — Get sign-off before granting permissions
• 📝 Content review — Approve blog posts, marketing materials
• 👤 HR workflows — Hiring approvals, PTO requests
• ⚙️ Configuration changes — Approve production deployments

Features

Multiple Approver Strategies

| Strategy | Description | |----------|-------------| | Any | First approver to decide completes the request | | All | Every designated approver must approve | | Majority | More than 50% must approve | | Sequential | Approvers must act in order (Manager → Director → VP) |

Configurable Timeouts

Set automatic actions when approvers don't respond:

• Auto-Approve — Proceed if no response
• Auto-Reject — Decline if no response
• Escalate — Route to a higher authority
• Expire — Cancel the request

Notification Channels

• ✉️ Email — Send approval request emails with direct action links
• 🔗 Webhook — Integrate with Slack, Teams, or custom systems
• 🔔 In-App — Dashboard shows pending approvals (coming soon)

Full Audit Trail

Every action is logged:

• Who created the request
• Who was notified
• When reminders were sent
• Who made decisions (with comments)
• Final outcome and timing

Installation

npm install @netpad/netpad-ext-approval-gate

Or with yarn:

yarn add @netpad/netpad-ext-approval-gate

Quick Start

1. Register the Extension

// In src/lib/extensions/loader.ts
import approvalGateExtension from '@netpad/netpad-ext-approval-gate';

const extensions = [
  approvalGateExtension,
  // ... other extensions
];

export default extensions;

2. Use in a Workflow

Once registered, the Approval Gate node appears in the workflow editor palette under the Logic category.

Basic Expense Approval Workflow

[Form Trigger: Expense Report]
         ↓
[Approval Gate]
  • Title: "Expense: {{formData.description}}"
  • Category: Expense
  • Approver: {{formData.managerEmail}}
  • Timeout: 72 hours → Escalate
         ↓
    ┌────┴────┐
    ↓         ↓
[Approved] [Rejected]
    ↓         ↓
[Process]  [Notify
 Payment]   Requester]

3. Handle Decisions via API

When an approver makes a decision:

// POST /api/ext/approval-gate/requests/APR-2026-ABC123/decide
{
  "decision": "approve",
  "comments": "Looks good, approved for Q4 budget."
}

Node Configuration

Basic Settings

| Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | title | text | Request title (supports {{variables}}) | | description | textarea | Additional context for approvers | | category | select | General, Expense, Access, Content, HR, Config | | priority | select | Low, Medium, High, Critical |

Approver Settings

| Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | approverType | select | How to determine approvers | | staticApprovers | textarea | Email addresses (one per line) | | approverRole | text | Role name for role-based lookup | | dynamicApproverExpression | expression | Expression resolving to email(s) | | approverStrategy | select | Any, All, Majority, Sequential |

Timeout Settings

| Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | timeoutEnabled | boolean | Enable automatic timeout | | timeoutHours | number | Hours before timeout (default: 72) | | timeoutAction | select | What to do on timeout | | escalateTo | text | Email for escalation |

Notification Settings

| Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | sendEmailNotification | boolean | Send email to approvers | | sendWebhookNotification | boolean | Send webhook on events | | webhookUrl | text | Webhook endpoint URL |

Data Settings

| Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | includeFormData | boolean | Show form submission to approvers | | includePreviousNodeData | boolean | Include previous node outputs | | customFieldsExpression | json | Custom fields as JSON |

Output Handles

The node has five output handles for routing based on decision:

| Handle | Description | |--------|-------------| | approved | Request was approved | | rejected | Request was rejected | | escalated | Request was escalated to another approver | | expired | Request timed out | | info-requested | Approver requested more information |

API Endpoints

The extension registers these API endpoints under /api/ext/approval-gate/:

GET /api/ext/approval-gate/pending

Get pending approvals for the current user.

// Response
{
  "success": true,
  "approvals": [...],
  "total": 5,
  "stats": {
    "pending": 5,
    "overdue": 1,
    "decidedToday": 3
  }
}

GET /api/ext/approval-gate/requests/:requestId

Get details of a specific approval request.

POST /api/ext/approval-gate/requests/:requestId/decide

Record a decision on an approval request.

// Request
{
  "decision": "approve" | "reject" | "escalate" | "request-info" | "delegate",
  "comments": "Optional comments",
  "conditions": "Optional conditions for conditional approval",
  "delegateTo": "[email protected]",
  "delegateReason": "Out of office"
}

GET /api/ext/approval-gate/stats

Get approval statistics for the organization.

Webhook Payload

When webhook notifications are enabled, this payload is sent:

{
  "event": "approval_request_created",
  "timestamp": "2026-01-23T14:30:00Z",
  "request": {
    "requestId": "APR-2026-ABC123",
    "title": "Expense Report: Q4 Marketing",
    "category": "expense",
    "priority": "high",
    "status": "pending",
    "requester": {
      "name": "Jane Smith",
      "email": "[email protected]"
    }
  },
  "links": {
    "view": "https://app.netpad.io/approve/...",
    "approve": "https://app.netpad.io/approve/.../approve",
    "reject": "https://app.netpad.io/approve/.../reject"
  }
}

Examples

Dynamic Approver from Form Data

Approver Type: Dynamic
Expression: {{formData.managerEmail}}

Multi-Level Approval Chain

Create two Approval Gate nodes in sequence:

[Approval Gate 1: Manager]
  Strategy: Any
         ↓ (approved)
[Approval Gate 2: Finance Director]
  Strategy: Any
         ↓ (approved)
[Process Payment]

Conditional Approval with Amount Threshold

[Switch Node]
  If amount > $5000: → [Senior Approval Gate]
  Otherwise: → [Standard Approval Gate]

Slack Notification Integration

Webhook URL: https://hooks.slack.com/services/T00000000/B00000000/XXXXXXXX

The webhook payload can be used with Slack's Incoming Webhooks to post approval requests to a channel.

Roadmap

v1.1 (Planned)

• [ ] Conditional approvals (approve with conditions)
• [ ] Bulk approve/reject from dashboard
• [ ] Mobile push notifications
• [ ] Approval templates

v1.2 (Planned)

• [ ] Multi-level approval chains (built-in)
• [ ] Out-of-office auto-delegation
• [ ] SLA reporting dashboard
• [ ] Custom approval forms

Future

• [ ] AI-assisted decision suggestions
• [ ] Risk scoring
• [ ] External approvers (non-NetPad users)
• [ ] Blockchain audit trail

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read our contributing guidelines before submitting a PR.

Support

• 📚 Documentation
• 💬 Discord Community
• 🐛 Issue Tracker