Approve & Lock for Confluence — Documentation
What it does
An approval that can be silently edited afterwards is not an approval. Approve & Lock binds an approval to a specific page version. If the page changes after approval, the status flips to Stale automatically and everyone can see it.
Setup
There is none. Install the app and it works. Space defaults are optional.
Requesting approval
- Open the page.
- ··· → Apps → Request approval.
- Choose approvers, decide whether all must approve or any one, choose the lock mode, optionally set a re-review date.
- Request approval.
The byline shows In review · 0 of 2 until approvers decide.
Approving
Approvers open the same menu and choose Approve or Reject, optionally with a comment. When the quorum is met the page becomes Approved v12, bound to that version.
Lock modes
| Mode | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Hard lock (default) | On approval, Confluence edit restrictions limit editing to the approvers. Released automatically when the page goes stale. |
| Soft lock | Nothing is restricted. The page is flagged stale when edited. |
If a hard lock cannot be applied — for example because of existing restrictions the app must not overwrite — the app records the failure and falls back to soft mode. It will never tell you a page is locked when it is not.
Restrictions that existed before approval are captured and restored when the lock is released. Your own restrictions are never destroyed.
What happens when someone edits an approved page
- The approval flips to Stale — needs re-review.
- Any lock the app applied is released.
- The event is written to the audit trail with the version number.
Detection runs two ways: Confluence page events, and a re-check whenever the page is viewed. If an event is delayed or missed, the byline still corrects itself.
Re-review dates
Set a date when requesting approval and the approval expires on that date, flipping to stale. Overdue pages are highlighted on the space dashboard.
The space dashboard
Space → Approvals lists every page under approval, sorted with stale and overdue first.
The macro
Insert Approval status into any page to embed the current status and the full audit trail inline — useful for documents that must show their own approval history.
Audit trail
Every event is append-only and never rewritten: requested, approved, rejected, locked, unlocked, lock failed, stale. Visible in the byline popup and the macro.
Permissions and data
The app stores approval metadata in Atlassian-hosted storage, sends nothing externally, and stores no page content. See the Privacy Policy.
Limits worth knowing
- Site and space administrators can always remove Confluence restrictions. The app records approvals; it does not override Confluence permissions.
- The app is not a validated quality-management system and should not be relied on for regulatory compliance.
Support
[email protected] — first response within one business day.