“Bulk approve Jira requests” can describe two different jobs: an agent processing work from a service project queue, or a customer or other portal approver deciding on requests assigned to them. Jira Service Management has a native bulk action for the agent queue. The portal approver workflow is separate.
For agents: use Jira’s native bulk approval queue
Jira Service Management Cloud documents a native bulk action for agents. In the service space, open the Requires my approval queue, select the requests, choose Approve, and confirm. This is built into JSM; an add-on is not required for that agent workflow.
- Open the service space and go to the queue that shows requests awaiting your approval.
- Select the requests to approve, or use the queue’s selection control to select all.
- Choose Approve from the action bar and confirm.
See Atlassian’s current instructions for transitioning and approving multiple requests at once. Those steps apply to the service project queue and an agent’s access there.
For portal approvers: a different workflow
Approvers who use the customer portal can review and act on requests awaiting their decision. Atlassian’s portal guidance describes opening an approval request, reviewing its supporting information, then choosing Approve or Decline. That is not the same screen or role as an agent’s Requires my approval queue.
If portal approvers have several requests, they may want to compare the relevant request details before deciding. The useful question is not whether Jira has bulk approval anywhere; it is whether the people approving from the portal have a way to review and action their pending approvals together.
Atlassian’s guide to approving a service project request explains the native portal approval flow. Jira’s own access rules and approval workflow remain important in either route.
Options for portal approvers handling several requests
Start with the native portal workflow if approvers only have an occasional decision. Open each request, review its details, and make the decision using Jira’s own controls.
For a portal approver who regularly has several approvals to review, Approval Queue – Bulk Approvals for JSM adds a focused view in the JSM customer portal. It shows native approvals awaiting the signed-in approver and supports this workflow:
- Open the portal user menu and choose Bulk Approvals.
- Review the request key, summary, requester, request type, submitted date and supported context fields configured by a project administrator.
- Search and select the requests you have reviewed, up to 25 in one batch.
- Choose Approve or Decline and confirm the exact selected batch.
- Review the result for each request and the refreshed Jira state.
A project administrator can configure up to three eligible, portal-visible decision-context fields for each supported request type. The app does not choose approvers or grant them request visibility or approval permission.
Jira remains in control of the approval
Approval Queue works with JSM’s native approvals. Jira remains authoritative for request visibility, permissions, approval rules, workflow behaviour and audit history. Each decision is handled against the current Jira state; a stale or failed request can have a different result from other requests in the batch.
In a workflow that requires more than one approver, one person’s decision does not necessarily complete the overall approval. A refreshed request may still be waiting for other approvers.
Which route should you use?
- JSM agent approving from a service project queue: use the native Requires my approval bulk action documented by Atlassian.
- Portal approver with an occasional request: open the request in the customer portal and use its native approval controls.
- Portal approver reviewing several pending requests: consider a focused portal queue such as Approval Queue, while retaining Jira’s existing permissions and approval rules.
Approval Queue is available for Jira Cloud on Atlassian Marketplace. Check the listing for current pricing, evaluation terms, permissions and installation details. The product documentation covers configuration and the approver workflow.
Disclosure: Approval Queue is built and published by PezTech Software. This guide is published for educational purposes by the product publisher.