FEATURE · APPROVALS
A social media approval workflow, set per business
An approval workflow is the rule that a post waits for a named person’s OK before it can be scheduled. In Growfinch you set it per business: approval required, or automatic publishing within rules you define. Where approval is required, no API key, AI agent or scheduled job can schedule the post; only a person in the console can.
Updated 22 October 2026 · Growfinch
How the social media approval workflow works, step by step
Approvals eat time when they live in inboxes and chat threads.
In Growfinch, every post takes the same path:
- A campaign arrives for one business: made in the console, or sent by your own tools through the API or the MCP server.
- Checks run: each post’s account is connected, and each post fits its platform’s format and limits.
- Where the business requires approval, the campaign waits in Approvals, which lists the platform and handle of every post.
- A person approves it in the console. Growfinch schedules each post for its time, or for the next free slot in a queue, and publishes it then.
- If the person rejects it, nothing goes out.
Where a business publishes automatically, a post of a kind you allowed (a template class) skips the wait and is scheduled within your rules. Any other post still waits for a person.
What machines can and cannot do
AI assistants reach Growfinch through its MCP server, and your own scripts through its REST API. The same rules apply to both. The MCP server has 21 tools, each of one of four kinds:
| Kind | What it does | Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Read-only | Reads and changes nothing. | list_businesses, list_connections, list_templates, validate_campaign, get_campaign, list_pending_approvals, list_recent_posts, get_usage, get_post_metrics, list_queues, plan_queue |
| Creates draft | Adds a campaign, a file or a queue to one business. Content waits for a person unless the business allows automatic publishing for its kind. | create_campaign, register_media, complete_media, create_queue, add_to_queue |
| Policy-controlled | Changes a campaign or queue that already exists. | cancel_campaign, update_queue, shuffle_queue, pause_queue |
| Needs permission | Always refused: only a person approves, in the console. | approve_campaign |
Through the API, a key can list what is waiting for approval but can’t approve it. Each key is made for specific businesses, with scopes, and sees nothing else. The full tool list is on the MCP server page.
Approvals in a queue
A queue is a weekly timetable for one business: you add posts without a time, and each takes the next free slot. In a queue that requires approval, every item waits for a person, and its approval names the slot it will land in. Once approved, the item takes the next free slot; nothing unapproved fills one.
In an automatic queue, the business’s rules decide as each item is added: a post of an allowed kind needs no person, and anything else waits for approval.
Exceptions in the same place
Approvals also holds what went wrong. Growfinch retries a post that fails; if it still fails, it appears in Approvals as an exception, with the way to fix it. When a platform connection expires, you see “needs reauthorization” and a Reconnect button. One list holds both: what needs your decision, and what needs your fix.
Who did what
For some businesses, one wrong post is more than embarrassing. In a G2 review of Hootsuite, a marketing planner writing about regulated industries put it this way: “…one unapproved post can be a legal headache” (G2 review, 26 June 2026).
Growfinch records who approved, changed or published what, and when. A kill switch in Settings stops every external effect at once: while it’s on, nothing is scheduled or published.
Planned
Not built yet, and no dates set:
- Approvers limited to one business: logins with roles per business, so a client or an assistant can approve that business’s posts and see nothing else.
- One-click approval of a week of queued posts.
Today, a member of your workspace approves, item by item.
To set up the process around the tool, read the guide to the social media approval process and copy the approval checklist. Who it’s for: agencies and owners of several businesses.
Questions
Can a client approve posts?
Today a member of your workspace approves. Logins limited to one business, so a client can approve that business’s posts and see nothing else, are planned.
Can some posts skip approval?
Yes. For each business you can let posts of a kind you name (a template class) publish automatically within the rules you set. Every other post waits for a person.
What happens if nobody approves in time?
Nothing goes out. The post waits in Approvals until a person approves or rejects it; a queue can also be set to drop items that wait too long. If a post is approved after its planned time, it goes out straight away.
Can an AI tool approve its own drafts?
No. The MCP tool approve_campaign is always refused, and the REST API lists approvals but cannot approve them. Approval is a person’s act in the console.
Does the approver see where each post will go?
Yes. The approval lists the platform and account handle of every post in the campaign.