Approval Tutorials

An approval process is essential for organizations to define the proper purchasing flow and enforce budget limits. Depending on the role of the customer, some checkouts are approved automatically, while others require additional confirmation from eligible users. The Approval Service supports the approval of orders placed either from a cart or from an accepted quote.

Quote checkout approval requires enabling the feature in System Preferences in the Management Dashboard. Set Enable quote approval process (approval.enableQuoteApprovalProcess) to active before customers can use the approval workflow for quote checkout.

Approval use cases

Both flows use the same action value (CHECKOUT) and the same roles, scopes, and approval statuses. They differ by resource type, when the approval is created, and request payload.

	Order approval (cart checkout)	Quote checkout approval
When	Customer checks out a cart on the storefront	Customer checks out an open quote to create an order
Prerequisite	B2B approval setup (roles and company limits)	B2B approval setup, and the approval.enableQuoteApprovalProcess setting enabled in the System Preferences
resourceType	CART	QUOTE
resourceId	Cart ID	Quote ID
action	CHECKOUT	CHECKOUT
details in POST	Required (shipping, addresses, currency, payment, and so on)	Omitted — the service loads quote line and price data from the quote
Outcome	Approver completes checkout → order from cart	Approver completes checkout → order from quote
Related docs	Checkout Service	Quote Tutorial, Checkout Service

Approval Service status (for example, PENDING, APPROVED, CLOSED) is separate from Quote Service status (for example, AWAITING, OPEN, ACCEPTED). Quote checkout approval applies after the quote is ready to be converted to an order — see the Quote Tutorial for the full quote lifecycle.

Roles and scopes

The approval flow begins when a customer adds products to a cart or works on an open quote in the storefront. The functionality supports four scopes, designed for Admin, Buyer and Requester roles.

Scopes designed for a customer:

• approval.approval_read_own

• approval.approval_manage_own

Scopes designed for a customer, admin (B2B_ADMIN), buyer (B2B_BUYER) and requester (B2B_REQUESTER):

• approval.approval_read

• approval.approval_manage

Users are able to read or manage only the approvals that are assigned to them.

See the different approval flows depending on the role and resource type.

Order approval (cart checkout)

Admin

Buyer

Requester

Quote checkout approval

Quote checkout follows the same role logic as cart checkout. The resource is a quote instead of a cart, and checkout is initiated on the quote (for example after the customer accepts the quote).

Admin

Buyer

Requester

Role rules

Only customers from the B2B_REQUESTER and B2B_BUYER groups can create an approval, and only a customer from the same company can be chosen as the approver. An approver must belong to the B2B_ADMIN or B2B_BUYER group.

An approval for a given resource can only be created by the resource owner — the customer who owns the cart or quote and does not have sufficient permissions to complete checkout. Approvals can be updated while their status is PENDING. Customers can manage only the approvals assigned to them.

Scopes are granted automatically when a customer logs in, depending on their group. If a token needs to be generated based on an API key, use the Customer Service to get the token: Customer Service – Customer Token.

Checkout-specific rules (cart and quote)

An approval can be created (requested) only by a customer who does not have permission to complete checkout on their own — they cannot place the order without approval. Additionally, B2B_BUYER customers create an approval only if the checkout amount exceeds the company limit, in which case approval from an Admin is required. For B2C users or Admins, the Approval Service API either indicates that no approval is necessary or returns an error.

Cart checkout-specific rules

Cart checkout approval is the default B2B approval flow and does not require an extra tenant setting beyond roles and company limits.

• Use resourceType: CART and the cart ID as resourceId.

• Include details in the create request — shipping, addresses, currency, payment methods, and related checkout data are required. The Approval Service stores this payload for the approver; it does not load checkout data from the cart alone.

• The requestor must own an active cart with the items to purchase. On the storefront, the flow typically starts when checkout is blocked or when the integration creates an approval after a failed checkout attempt.

• After the approver approves, complete checkout through the Checkout Service using the cart ID and the data from the approval details.

• To verify permissions before checkout, call Checking the resource approval with resourceType: CART, the cart resourceId, and action: CHECKOUT.

Quote checkout-specific rules

Quote checkout approval is available only when Enable quote approval process setting (System Preferences) is active for the tenant.

• Use resourceType: QUOTE and the quote ID as resourceId. Do not send details in the create request — the Approval Service resolves line items and prices from the quote.

• After the approver approves, complete checkout through the Checkout Service using the quote ID. See the Quote Tutorial for quote statuses before and after checkout.

Managing approvals

How to check user rights for approval flow

You can check the approval rights with the Approval Service API.

Perform the check during cart or quote checkout. If the user lacks the necessary rights, the approval flow can be triggered after checkout fails. This approach requires first distinguishing between B2B and B2C users to verify whether they belong to a B2B legal entity or group.

To check for the eligible approvers from your company, use the dedicated Search for the users eligible to act as approvers endpoint.

To test the endpoint, open the API reference or check the example of a curl request.

API Reference

curl -L \
  --request POST \
  --url 'https://api.emporix.io/approval/{{tenant}}/search/users' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer {{OAUTH2_ACCESS_TOKEN}}' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{
    "resourceId": "cartId",
    "resourceType": "CART",
    "action": "CHECKOUT"
  }'

Depending on the use case, provide the CART or QUOTE resource details.

How to start the approval flow

To start the flow, create an approval.

Send a request to the Creating a single approval endpoint.

Only customers with the B2B_REQUESTER or B2B_BUYER roles can initiate the flow. They are the users with the approval.approval_manage_own scope. If a customer is in the B2B_ADMIN role, the create approval flow does not start.

To test the endpoint, open the API reference or check the example of a curl request.

API Reference

Order (cart checkout)

Use resourceType: CART and include details with shipping, payment, and address information required for checkout.

curl -i -X POST \
  'https://api.emporix.io/approval/{{tenant}}/approvals' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer {{OAUTH2_ACCESS_TOKEN}}' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "id": "64e241ced632aa413a27a318",
    "resourceType": "CART",
    "resourceId": "cartId",
    "action": "CHECKOUT",
    "approver": {
      "userId": "aaa2f2b6-7dc8-45ff-9f20-4e6163c14cbb"
    },
    "comment": "Comment to the approval user",
    "details": {
      "currency": "EUR",
      "paymentMethods": [
        {
          "provider": "stripe",
          "customAttributes": {
            "paymentType": "invoice"
          },
          "method": "invoice",
          "amount": 3
        }
      ],
      "shipping": {
        "zoneId": "deliveryarea",
        "methodId": "4-more_hours_timeframe",
        "amount": 10,
        "methodName": "Delivery method name",
        "shippingTaxCode": "STANDARD"
      },
      "payment": {
        "paymentId": "636cc738-f0cd-11ed-a05b-0242ac120003",
        "customAttributes": {
          "attribute1": "value of the attribute1",
          "attribute2": "value of the attribute2"
        }
      },
      "addresses": [
        {
          "contactName": "John Doe",
          "street": "Fritz-Elsas-Straße",
          "streetNumber": "20",
          "streetAppendix": "",
          "zipCode": "70173",
          "city": "Stuttgart",
          "country": "DE",
          "type": "SHIPPING",
          "contactPhone": "123456789"
        },
        {
          "contactName": "John Doe",
          "street": "Fritz-Elsas-Straße",
          "streetNumber": "20",
          "streetAppendix": "",
          "zipCode": "70173",
          "city": "Stuttgart",
          "country": "DE",
          "type": "BILLING",
          "contactPhone": "123456789"
        }
      ]
    }
  }'

Quote checkout

How to update an approval

After creating the approval, items can be updated by the PATCH endpoint. Customers can change the status, details, delivery window and comment of the approval.

To update an approval, send a request to the Updating a single approval endpoint.

For quote approvals (resourceType: QUOTE), the service manages resource data from the quote. Update status and comments rather than line items unless your integration explicitly supports patch operations on quote-backed approvals.

To test the endpoint, open the API reference or check the example of a curl request.

API Reference

curl -i -X PATCH \
  'https://api.emporix.io/approval/{{tenant}}/approvals/{{approvalId}}' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer {{OAUTH2_ACCESS_TOKEN}}' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \

How to retrieve an approval

Approvals can be fetched by a customer. Only the approval which is assigned to the customer is returned.

To retrieve an approval, send a request to the Retrieving a single approval endpoint.

To test the endpoint, open the API reference or check the example of a curl request.

API Reference

curl -i -X GET \
  'https://api.emporix.io/approval/{{tenant}}/approvals/{{approvalId}}' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer {{OAUTH2_ACCESS_TOKEN}}' \

FAQ

How do I get approval notifications?

After sending the approval request, an email notification is sent to the approver. As a requester, you can also see a confirmation message indicating that the approval was requested. In the Emporix B2B Commerce Frontend, approval requests can be viewed and managed under the Approvals view.

Is quote checkout approval optional?

Yes. It applies only when Enable quote approval process (approval.enableQuoteApprovalProcess) is active in System Preferences. Cart checkout approval follows the standard B2B role and company-limit rules without this setting.

Are multiple approvers supported?

The Approval Service supports only one approver per request. There is no built-in mechanism to define multiple approvers. A possible workaround is to create a user account using a shared email address, such as for example [email protected], which can be accessed by multiple team members.

To learn more about the approval groups, see the Approvals user guides documentation.

To see an end-to-end quote approval flow from the B2B Commerce Frontend perspective, see the Quotes.

To see the end-to-end cart approval process, see the Users Management and Approvals