Switching · Approval Flow
Switching from Jira Service Management or Jira Premium approvals to Approval Flow
Approval Flow for Jira 3.0.0 is the production version (30 October 2026). Last updated 20 October 2026. On the Atlassian Marketplace.
Open approvals: one dry run and one import, read from the Approvals field and your approver field. The other app is only read, never changed, the dry run writes nothing, and every import run can be undone.
Tried on 17 October 2026 on our own test site with Jira Service Management approvals. The Approvals field of Jira Premium's own approvals was not tested.
What moves
#- Each approver's decision from the Jira Service Management "Approvals" field. It keeps no time per approver, so the import records when the approval completed instead.
- The people in your approver field (for example "Approvers"), as a Required requirement, with Also carry over pending approvals.
What does not move
#- The approval step in your workflow: it keeps working until you replace it with Approval Flow's Approval sign-off required validator.
Before you start
#Nothing to export. If the dry run finds no decisions on work items that do have approvals, the Approvals field is not readable with the app's current permissions on your site; tell us at support@stankiguild.com.
How
#In Jira settings, Apps, open Switch to Approval Flow, choose On the work items (read in place), Jira Service Management Approvals field (or your approver field), the field and a JQL such as project = ABC AND "Approvals" is not EMPTY. Click Dry run, then Import.
Optional: Also carry over pending approvals turns the people still pending into a Required Approval Flow requirement on that work item, so in-flight approvals continue here. With All of the pending people, every one of them must sign; the dry run says how many requirements it will create.
Run both side by side
#Approval Flow never changes Jira's own approvals. Try one project first. Imported records appear on each work item under Imported history, marked "Imported, not verified by Approval Flow", with the app, the import run, who imported them and when. They are history, not sign-offs: they do not satisfy a requirement, the workflow gate, the Approval status field or the certificate, and the Approval Flow audit chain records that the import happened, not the decisions themselves.
Roll back
#Every import run can be undone from the same page. Importing the same data again adds nothing twice. Requirements created by carry-over stay after an undo, so in-flight approvals are not lost.
Who can do it
#Jira administrators, in every edition.
More on Approval Flow: documentation, comparison with other apps.
Common questions
#Does the import change Jira Service Management or Jira Premium approvals?
No. Approval Flow only reads what Jira Service Management or Jira Premium approvals left behind and never changes it, so both apps can run side by side while you compare.
Can I see what will be imported before anything is written?
Yes. Every path starts with a dry run that writes nothing and shows what would be imported and what would be skipped.
Can I undo an import?
Yes. Every import run can be undone, and running the same import again adds nothing twice.
Do imported approvals count as sign-offs?
No. They are kept as labelled imported history and never count as a sign-off, toward the workflow gate or in the approval certificate.
Who can run the switch?
Jira administrators, in every edition.
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