The eight approval types
Which approvals are safety gates and which are preferences.
Foreman pauses for eight distinct kinds of approval. Knowing which is which tells you what you can safely delegate to a colleague.
| Type | What it means |
|---|---|
| Deliverable execution | Work is finished and about to leave the workspace |
| Budget change | Something wants to spend more |
| Permission request | An agent needs access it does not have |
| Hire agent | A new specialist is being added |
| Strategy decision | A judgement call the agents will not make for you |
| Escalation | Something went wrong and needs a person |
| Human handoff | A step only a human can perform |
| Copy voice select | Which voice a piece of writing should use |
Safety gates versus preferences
Gates — deliverable execution, budget change, permission request, hire. These exist because the action is irreversible or costs money. Treat them as real decisions.
Preferences — copy voice, and many strategy decisions. These exist because the answer is yours, not because the action is dangerous.
Signals — escalation and human handoff mean work is blocked. They are not asking your permission; they are telling you something needs you.
Delegating them
Approval capabilities are granted separately per type. Someone who can resolve escalations cannot approve budget changes unless you grant that too — see Members and roles.
You're done when each type is routed to someone who should be deciding it.
Gotchas
- Social outbound appears under Social, not Approvals. It is an execution approval carrying a post, and it shows on the chip for the thing it actually is — deliberately, so the counts do not double.
- An unanswered approval blocks its objective. Nothing proceeds on a timeout.