Teams use workflow rules to make sure a work item cannot move forward until it has been approved. Today the app offers only one such rule: a workflow condition that requires picking a single, specific approval definition. This has two gaps:

1. When the approval definition is chosen dynamically (different approval processes for different work items, e.g. per region or per request type), the admin cannot know upfront which definition to select in the rule, so no rule fits.

2. When several approvals run on one work item, there is no way to require that all of them are completed before the work item can change status.

On top of that, the existing rule is a condition: the transition silently disappears from the UI. Users do not understand why they cannot move the work item, which generates confusion and support questions.

Proposed scope

1. A new workflow validator: when a user tries to transition a work item that still requires approval, the transition is rejected with a clear, human-readable message explaining why (approval still pending, or the required approval is missing).

2. A new rule mode, available in both the validator and the existing condition: "all approvals completed". It works regardless of which approval definition was started and covers work items with multiple approvals:

   • the transition is blocked while any approval on the work item is pending (IN_PROGRESS),

   • an approval is treated as satisfied once it is no longer pending; only pending approvals block the transition,

   • an additional option "Require at least one approved approval" (enabled by default) decides how the rule treats work items that have no approved approval: enabled = the transition is blocked unless at least one approval was approved (so a work item whose only approval was rejected stays blocked, and a work item with no approvals at all stays blocked); disabled = work items with no pending approval can transition freely regardless of whether any approval was approved or rejected. This supports processes where an approval is started only for some work items.

3. The current mode (approved with a specific definition) stays available in both rule types.

4. Automatic status change after approval must cooperate with these rules: when an automatic transition is blocked because other approvals on the work item are still pending, the action is skipped quietly instead of reporting an error. The work item then moves on once the last required approval completes.

5. Both rules are available in all project types: company-managed and team-managed, Jira Software and Jira Service Management.

Acceptance criteria

• An admin can add the validator or the condition to any workflow transition and choose one of two modes: "approved with a specific definition" or "all approvals completed", the latter with the "Require at least one approved approval" option.

• In "all approvals completed" mode, the transition is blocked while any approval on the work item is pending, and allowed once no approval is pending; the "Require at least one approved approval" setting decides whether a work item with no approved approval (none started, or only rejected ones) is additionally blocked.

• When the validator blocks a manual transition, the user sees a message explaining why; transitions triggered via API or automation are rejected as well.

• An automatic status change blocked by these rules does not surface an error; the status change happens after the last required approval completes.

• Rules can be configured in company-managed and team-managed projects, in both Jira Software and JSM.

• Existing rule configurations keep working unchanged after the upgrade.