Custom approvals

Overview

This topic describes how to create your own custom approvals integration. Only customers with complex workflow management or approval systems in third-party applications that LaunchDarkly does not integrate with directly are likely to need a custom approvals integration.

Use cases for custom approvals

LaunchDarkly provides several integrations so that you can use third-party workflow management applications. However, the provided LaunchDarkly integrations are optimized for relatively basic change management workflows in the third-party applications.

For example, LaunchDarkly's ServiceNow approvals integration embeds LaunchDarkly approvals into your ServiceNow workflows. All approval requests created in a LaunchDarkly environment generate corresponding ServiceNow standard change requests, and LaunchDarkly uses the state of the corresponding standard change request to determine if the proposed change should be acknowledged as "approved" or "declined."

If you have more complex workflow management processes or approval requirements, you can still set up LaunchDarkly-created approval requests to generate corresponding requests in your system. For example, if you have a customized ServiceNow implementation that does not use standard change requests, you can use a custom approvals integration with LaunchDarkly.

Set up custom approvals

To set up custom approvals in LaunchDarkly, you must to do the following:

• Create and host your own application that serves as an intermediary between LaunchDarkly approvals and your workflow management application
• Add a custom approvals integration configuration to link LaunchDarkly to your intermediary application
• Configure LaunchDarkly environments to use the custom approvals integration configuration

After all of these steps are complete, you can use custom approvals from within LaunchDarkly.

Use custom approvals

After you create your own intermediary application, add a custom approvals integration configuration and configure your chosen LaunchDarkly environments to use the custom integration. This lets members of your organization in LaunchDarkly request approval for flag changes within LaunchDarkly. LaunchDarkly sends these requests to your intermediary application, which can process them or forward them to your workflow management application.

To request approval from within LaunchDarkly:

1. In LaunchDarkly, navigate to the feature flag that you wish to change. Make sure you are in an environment for which the approval settings are set to your custom approvals integration.
2. Make your needed changes to the flag targeting, status, or variations.
3. Click the dropdown icon in the Review and save button:

4. Select Request approval. A dialog appears.
5. Enter the description and any scheduling details, if desired.
6. Click Request approval.
7. The approvers for feature flag changes receive a notification in your workflow management application.

The approver for the change can view and approve it from within your external workflow management system.

After the request is approved, the member can apply the change in LaunchDarkly.