---
title: "Ghost: workflows/approval.tsx"
description: "Example from workflows/approval.tsx: A two-step sequential workflow with a human approval gate before the final task."
---

# workflows/approval.tsx

<Note>
**Synthetic example**: `workflows/approval.tsx` does not exist in the repo. This is a standalone illustration of `needsApproval` for human-in-the-loop workflows, not a copy of a real file.

For a richer approval flow with custom request summaries and an `<Approval>` component, see [Approval Gate](./approval-gate).
</Note>

## Source

```tsx
/** @jsxImportSource smithers-orchestrator */
// workflows/approval.tsx
import { createSmithers } from "smithers-orchestrator";
import { z } from "zod";

const { Workflow, Sequence, Task, smithers, outputs } = createSmithers({
  input: z.object({
    name: z.string(),
  }),
  output: z.object({
    message: z.string(),
    length: z.number(),
  }),
});

export default smithers((ctx) => (
  <Workflow name="approval">
    <Sequence>
      <Task id="approve" output={outputs.output} needsApproval>
        {{
          message: `Approved: ${ctx.input.name}`,
          length: ctx.input.name.length,
        }}
      </Task>
      <Task id="final" output={outputs.output}>
        {{
          message: `Done: ${ctx.input.name}`,
          length: ctx.input.name.length,
        }}
      </Task>
    </Sequence>
  </Workflow>
));
```

## Running

```bash
bunx smithers-orchestrator up workflows/approval.tsx --input '{"name": "Deploy v2"}'
```

The workflow pauses at the approval gate:

```
[approval] Starting run mno345
[approve] Waiting for approval...
[approval] Paused. Run `bunx smithers-orchestrator approve` or `bunx smithers-orchestrator deny` to continue.
```

Approve and resume:

```bash
bunx smithers-orchestrator approve mno345 --node approve
bunx smithers-orchestrator up workflows/approval.tsx --run-id mno345 --resume true
```

```
[approve] Approved. Running...
[approve] Done -> { message: "Approved: Deploy v2", length: 9 }
[final] Done -> { message: "Done: Deploy v2", length: 9 }
[approval] Completed
```

## Notes

- **`needsApproval`** -- Pauses execution until a human approves. Core human-in-the-loop primitive.
- **Resumable** -- Workflow state is persisted to SQLite. Approval is recorded durably; `--resume true` continues from the gate.
