Process Approvals

Learn how to process document approvals with electronic signatures, AI-powered routing, and real-time status tracking using the SignumFlow API.

Overview

SignumFlow provides multiple ways to process approvals:

API Approval: Submit approval decisions programmatically with signature data
Hosted Approval Page: Use our pre-built approval UI with signature capture
Pending Approvals: Query and retrieve pending approvals for any approver
Approval History: Track complete approval history with timestamps and signatures

Method 1: Submit Approval via API

Use the API to submit approval decisions programmatically. This is ideal for custom approval workflows and integrations.

Key Features

Submit approval or rejection with comments
Include signature metadata (IP address, timestamp)
Triggers AI routing to next step automatically
Returns next step information and workflow status

# Submit approval decision
curl -X POST "https://api.signumflow.com/api/v1/approvals" \
  -H "Authorization: sf_test_YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "document_id": "doc_contract789xyz",
    "workflow_step_id": "legal_review",
    "approver_email": "[email protected]",
    "status": "approved",
    "comments": "Contract terms approved"
  }'

Method 2: Hosted Approval Page

Use SignumFlow's pre-built approval page with signature capture. Perfect for email links and quick approvals.

What's Included

Document details and preview
HTML5 signature canvas for electronic signatures
Approve/Reject buttons with comment field
No authentication required - uses secure document ID
Rate limited to 10 requests per hour per IP

# Hosted approval page (opens in browser)
curl "https://api.signumflow.com/approve/doc_contract789xyz"

# This returns an HTML page with signature capture

Get Pending Approvals

Retrieve all pending approvals for a specific approver with pagination support. Use this to build approval dashboards and notification systems.

# Get pending approvals for an approver
curl -X GET "https://api.signumflow.com/api/v1/approvals/pending/[email protected]?page=1&limit=10" \
  -H "Authorization: sf_test_YOUR_API_KEY"

Get Approval History

Retrieve complete approval history for a document including all signatures, timestamps, and status changes.

# Get all approvals for a document
curl -X GET "https://api.signumflow.com/api/v1/approvals/doc_contract789xyz" \
  -H "Authorization: sf_test_YOUR_API_KEY"

💡 AI-Powered Smart Routing

When an approval is submitted, SignumFlow automatically:

Routes to the next approver based on historical response times
Assigns backup approvers for faster processing
Calculates estimated completion time
Triggers notifications and webhooks
Updates document status in real-time

Next Steps

→ Learn About Smart Routing → Set Up Webhooks → View Full API Reference → Complete Quick Start Guide