monday.com App · v1.0.0 · Coming soon
Approval Chains
Multi-stage sequential sign-off — one approver at a time, in order.
- Sequential stages
- Self-configuring
- Rejection is final
- Audit trail
The gap it closes
monday’s native automations can do one approval. They cannot do “the manager, then finance, then the director — in that order, and stop if anyone says no”.
Teams end up simulating it with a chain of status columns and brittle rules that break the moment someone approves out of order.
Approval Chains runs the sequence properly.
How it works
Three steps, then it runs itself.
- 01
Name your approvers in order
Up to three stages. The app creates the columns it needs itself — there is nothing to set up on the board first.
- 02
Each stage assigns the right person
When a stage becomes live, its approver is assigned so it appears in their work.
- 03
Approve to advance, reject to stop
An approval moves to the next stage. A rejection ends the chain immediately, at whatever stage it happened.
How it behaves
The decisions that matter.
-
A finished chain cannot be resurrected
Once approved or rejected, further events are ignored — so a retried webhook cannot reopen a closed decision.
-
Starting twice cannot wipe progress
If a chain is already running on an item, starting it again is refused rather than resetting it back to stage one.
-
Unrelated status changes are ignored
Only recognised approve/reject values move the chain. Everything else passes by harmlessly.
-
Every transition is on the record
Each stage change posts an update to the item, so the approval history is readable long after the fact.
Pricing
Free tier that actually works.
Billed per account through monday.com's built-in monetization — not per seat. The free tier is deliberately functional so the app can prove itself on a real board before you pay for it. Trials get full Pro.
Free
$0
Basic
$19/mo
Standard
$45/mo
Pro
$89/mo
Documentation & data handling
Everything it touches, stated plainly.
Installing & getting started
- Install Approval Chains into your monday.com account and approve the permissions listed below.
- Open the board you want it on and add the app’s Automation block.
- Follow the three steps above. The free tier covers 1 approval chain — fully functional, on one board, so you can prove it works before paying.
- Stuck? Email support@buildsbyluke.com — two business days response.
Permissions, and why each one
me:read- Identify the installing account.
boards:read- Read the item’s current stage and the triggering decision value.
boards:write- Create the stage columns, advance the stage, and assign the current approver.
updates:write- Post the approval history to the item’s timeline.
What is stored, and where
- Chain state is stored in columns on your own board — the app keeps no separate copy.
- No board data or personal information is copied to any third-party server.
- The app runs entirely on monday code — monday.com’s own infrastructure. There is no external database.
Technical detail
- Version
- 1.0.0
- Hosting
- monday code (hosted on monday.com infrastructure)
- Runtime
- Node.js 18
- Authentication
- OAuth 2.0 + per-request JWT verification
- monday surfaces
- Automation block
- App ID
11809986- Support
- support@buildsbyluke.com
- Support SLA
- Two business days
- Publisher
- Builds By Luke, Canada
Questions people ask.
Do I need to create columns first?
No. The app creates the stage and approver columns it needs the first time it runs on a board.
What happens if someone rejects at stage two?
The chain ends immediately and is marked rejected. It does not continue to stage three.
How many stages are supported?
Up to three in version one.
Approval Chains is on its way.
It is built and running — currently going through monday.com’s marketplace review. Want a look before it lands?