Approvals

Overview#

The Approvals page is your decision center for human-in-the-loop governance. When an OpenClaw agent attempts a high-risk action (e.g., large spend, sensitive data access, external API calls), it generates an approval request. You review the context and decide: Allow Once, Always Allow, or Deny.

Features include batch processing for multiple approvals, configurable approval rules, risk-level assessment, cost estimation, and full audit trail integration.

Prerequisites#

OpenClaw Configuration#

In OpenClaw, approval events are generated automatically when agents encounter actions that exceed configured risk thresholds. The specific triggers depend on your agent configuration and the actions being performed.

Each approval request includes: action name, reasoning, impact assessment, risk level (low/medium/high/critical), cost estimate, and rollback suggestion.

ClawButler Configuration#

Approval rules can be configured directly in ClawButler to automate decisions:

• -Allow-always rules: Automatically approve trusted patterns
• -Deny rules: Block specific action types
• -Custom rules: Set conditions based on agent, action type, or risk level

Access the Rules Editor from the Approvals page to manage your approval automation.

Expected Results#

The Approvals page displays a split-view layout:

• -Left panel: List of approval requests with status badges (pending/approved/rejected/expired)
• -Right panel: Full detail view when you click an approval (agent identity, action, risk, cost estimate, impact, rollback suggestion)
• -Quick action buttons on each pending approval: Allow Once, Always Allow, Deny
• -Batch mode toggle for selecting and processing multiple approvals at once

Web Operations#

Navigate to Approvals from the Operate section in the sidebar.

Use status filter pills to narrow the list: All, Pending, Approved, Denied, Expired. Pagination shows 20 items per page.

Single Decision

Click any approval to see full context in the right panel. Choose Allow Once (one-time approval), Always Allow (creates a permanent rule), or Deny.

Batch Mode

Toggle Batch Mode to show checkboxes. Select multiple pending approvals (or click Select All Pending). Then use Batch Approve or Batch Reject buttons. Results show succeeded/failed/skipped counts.

Approval Rules

Configure automation rules to handle recurring approval patterns. Rules can auto-approve or auto-deny based on agent, action type, and risk level.

CLI Operations#

List approvals with optional status filter

$ ap approval list --status pending

Show details for a specific approval

$ ap approval show <id>

Approve a pending request

$ ap approval approve <id>

Reject a pending request

$ ap approval reject <id>

Batch approve/reject multiple approvals

$ ap approval batch --decision approved --ids id1,id2

View or update approval rules

$ ap approval rules

Mobile Operations#

On mobile, approvals are in the Ops tab (fourth tab). Select the 'Approvals' segment.

• -Status filter tabs: All, Pending, Approved, Rejected
• -Quick action buttons (Allow Once, Always Allow, Reject) on each card
• -Batch selection mode with Select All Pending button
• -Tap an approval to view the full detail screen

FAQ#