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Approval-Gated Changes

A governance workflow with an event-based trigger can hold edits until a reviewer approves them. With Approval Mode set to Enforce, an edit to a watched field is not written to the asset. OpenMetadata turns the edit into a change request and creates a review task. The asset keeps its approved value until a reviewer approves the change.

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Turn On Approval Mode

Approval Mode is an option on the event-based start node of a governance workflow. See Configure Governance Workflow Triggers and Conditions for the rest of the trigger configuration.
  1. Open the workflow and select the event-based start node.
  2. Set Approval Mode to Default or Enforce.
  3. Add a User Approval task to the workflow. In an Enforce workflow, approving the task publishes the held edit and rejecting it discards the edit.
  4. Save and deploy the workflow.
The following rules apply to an Enforce workflow:
  • Existing assets only: OpenMetadata holds edits to existing assets. It does not hold the creation of an asset.
  • Whole edit: If one edit touches any watched field, OpenMetadata holds the whole edit. If one edit touches fields that two different workflows govern, OpenMetadata rejects it. Submit the changes separately.
  • Bots: OpenMetadata never holds edits made by bots.
  • Admins: Admins are held to the same rules as other users.
  • Requester: The person who made the edit cannot approve or reject their own change request, even if they are an admin.
  • No reviewer: If nobody can review a change because the asset has no reviewers, no owners, and no other admins, OpenMetadata approves the change automatically.

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Submit a Change

When you edit a watched field on an asset covered by an Enforce workflow, OpenMetadata saves the edit as a change request.
  1. Edit a field that the workflow watches, then save.
  2. OpenMetadata returns the asset with its approved value unchanged and shows the message “Your change was submitted for approval. It will be published once it is approved.”
  3. Wait for a reviewer to approve or reject the task.
If a reviewer approves, OpenMetadata publishes the edit. If a reviewer rejects, OpenMetadata discards the edit.

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Review Pending Changes

The Pending Changes button appears in the header of the asset, glossary term, domain, or data product. It shows a count of open change requests. It appears only when an Enforce workflow covers the asset type and open change requests exist.
  1. Click Pending Changes. The Review pending changes window opens.
  2. Review the proposed change.
  3. Approve or reject through the review task.
If you approve a revision that a newer revision has replaced, OpenMetadata refuses the approval. Reload the task and review the active revision.

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Withdraw a Change Request

Only the requester can withdraw a change request. Use the Withdraw revision action. OpenMetadata confirms with “Change request withdrawn.”

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Revisions and Conflicts

OpenMetadata keeps one active change request for each asset and requester.
  • New revision: If you edit the asset again while your change is pending, the edit becomes a new revision. The review task reopens, and the earlier task closes as superseded. Approvals do not carry over to the new revision.
  • Independent requests: Edits from two requesters create two independent change requests.
  • Conflicts: If two requests change the same field, OpenMetadata flags the second one as conflicted when a reviewer approves it. The requester must submit an updated change.

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Bulk Imports

When you import a CSV file and an Enforce workflow holds some rows, OpenMetadata reports the held rows with the message “N row(s) are waiting for approval and are not published yet.”

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Cancel Pending Requests

OpenMetadata cancels pending change requests in these cases:
  • You delete the workflow.
  • You change the workflow so it no longer holds changes, for example by switching Approval Mode from Enforce to Default.
A suspended workflow holds no new edits. Existing change requests stay open until you resume the workflow.

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Use the API

When an Enforce workflow holds a write, the API does not apply it.
  • PUT and PATCH: A held request returns 202. The X-OpenMetadata-Pending-Change response header contains the change request ID.
  • Bulk writes: Responses include the X-OpenMetadata-Pending-Change-Count header. The status is 202 only when the request held something and applied nothing. Otherwise, it is 200.
  • List change requests: Use GET /v1/changeRequests to list the change requests for an asset or a requester.