How to approve, reject, abstain, comment an approval request via e-mail

Owned by Cristina Balcázar
Last updated: May 01, 2024
4 min read

 

 

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Overview

Users can express their approval decision via email, without logging into Jira.

Depending by the applied setting on the E-mail Template Configuration screen, users can express their approval decision via buttons displayed on the Approval Request email or replying to the email and writing in the body opportune tags allowing the app to process the response opportunely.

In Jira Cloud, It is possible to generate issue and comments in Jira from email messages sent to the de POP email server in the cloud application. To enable this function, you must ensure that the POP email server is property configured and that the Jira email option is enabled.

It is import note that although it is possible to customize the Email Handler configuration to suit specific needs, it is not recommended in most cases. The default configuration meets the requirements for most users, and incorrect modifications can negatively affect the processing of email messages.

Approve/Reject/Abstain/Reset/ Comment via email using the Approval tags

Before you begin, you must have the Approval Actions option enabled. Here you can enable or disable the capability for approvers to submit an abstention or rejection, as well as the ability to change the approval decision. The enabled options should be Reject Approval Action and Abstain Approval Action.

Another step is necessary before proceeding, it is necessary to configure Incoming Mail in order to receive emails sent through the approval action. To register an email address for your Jira Cloud project, follow these steps:

  1. Choose > System.

  2. Select Mail > Incoming Mail. 

  3. Jira Cloud select Set up your incoming mail server > Here are the current mail servers that are configured for Jira.

  4. Set up an email address that will be used to create issues in your project.

  1. To send an email to the project email address, modify or alter the default configuration settings in Mail Handlers as follows:

    • Click on "Add incoming mail handler".

    • Enter a name for the mail handler (this field is mandatory).

    • Select "default Cloud Mail Server" for the Incoming Mail Server.

    • Choose "cloud Email Handler" as the Mail Handler Type.

    • Leave the "Folder name" field blank for default.

    • Click "Next" to proceed.

    • In the "handler params" section, enter the default configuration settings as follows:

    • senderEmail=no-reply@<your id>.atlassian.net,stripquotes=true,bulk=ignore.

    • Click "Save" to apply the changes.

Once you have completed these steps, you will be able to receive emails sent through the approval action. Make sure to review and adjust your configuration settings in the Incoming Mail section as needed to ensure everything is set up correctly.

As an approver, you will receive an e-mail notifying an approval request:

You can APPROVE/REJECT/ABSTAIN/PENDING responding to the email and respecting the structure. Among the tags (@@), there must be one of these options: APPROVED, REJECTED, ABSTAINED or PENDING, followed by a space there must be a word transition between < and >. There should be no spaces after < and before the >.

@APPROVED <Word Transition>@ @REJECTED  <Word Transition>@ @ABSTAINED <Word Transition>@ @PENDING <Word Transition>@

In the email it can send several commands, and the commands can be separated by a space or a line break for example .

@REJECTED <In progress>@ @APPROVED <Done>@

When responding to the email, the response will be able to see in the comment on the subject, a continuation shows an example:
As you can see in the issue below, the "Approval - In Progress" status has been verified, and a new comment has been added in the comments section, which would be the body of the previously sent email. In addition, in the last comment, you can see the transition that the Approval Plugin made.