How does the software approval process work?

Requires Pro

Quick answer

Every piece of software carries an approval status: In review (default when created), Approved, or Blocked. Approval is a status change on the software entry — there is no separate request workflow. Open the entry to edit it, set the desired approval status, and save.

Prerequisites

Required role Administrator, Manager, or Technician

— any user with write access to Software may change the approval status (via the API: token scope write). There is no dedicated “approver” role; approval is a regular edit of the entry.

Part of the Software module and therefore available from the Pro tier (feature software).

How the approval process works

• Request (In review): Newly created software automatically receives the in_review status. It is recorded, but not yet marked as approved.
• Approve (Approved): An authorized user sets the status to approved — the software is then considered approved and ready to use.
• Block (Blocked): Unwanted or rejected software is set to blocked. The status is retained and can be changed again at any time.

Instructions

GUI (web interface)

1. Open software for editing. Select Software in the left-hand navigation. In the list, click the pencil icon (Edit) next to the entry you want.

2. Set the approval status. In the “Edit Software” dialog, open the Approval Status dropdown and choose Approved, In review, or Blocked.

   Screenshot pending software-freigabe-01 'Edit Software' dialog with the Approval Status dropdown open (Approved, In review, Blocked)

   The approval status is set in the edit dialog.

3. Save. Click “Save”. The new status immediately appears in the Approval Status column of the list.

   Screenshot pending software-freigabe-02 Software list with the Approval Status column and the values Approved, In review, Blocked

   The list shows the approval status for each software entry.

API (curl)

The approval status is set via a PUT on the software entry — it’s enough to send just the approval_status field.

Approve software

curl -X PUT https://demo.notory.io/api/v1/software/0f9c2a71-4d6b-4e18-9a3c-2b7e1f0d8c44 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer inv_dein_token" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "approval_status": "approved" }'

Response HTTP 200 OK with the updated entry:

Response (200 OK, shortened)

{
  "id": "0f9c2a71-4d6b-4e18-9a3c-2b7e1f0d8c44",
  "name": "Adobe Photoshop",
  "approval_status": "approved",
  "updated_at": "2026-07-08T10:02:41Z"
}

Valid values for approval_status:

Value	Display	Meaning
in_review	In review	Default when created
approved	Approved	Approved and ready to use
blocked	Blocked	Rejected / not allowed

Possible errors: 401 (token missing/invalid), 403 (no write access or the Software module is not in your tier), 404 (software not found), 422 (invalid approval_status value).

What happens behind the scenes?

• Status field instead of a workflow: Notory stores the approval status as a field on the software entry. There are no separate request/approval endpoints and no dedicated approver role — the change is a normal edit.
• Audit trail: Who last changed the status is recorded as updated_by, along with updated_at.
• Tenant isolation: The status change only takes effect within your tenant.
• No automatic notification: A status change sends no e-mail and triggers no webhook event. The status is purely informational and visible in the list.

Related topics

• Add software — new entries start “In review”
• Software & Licenses — Overview
• Users & roles — which role can edit?
• API introduction