Documentation Index
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Approval Workflows for Agent Payments
Approval workflows let you keep low-risk agent payments fast while routing exceptional cases through human review. In Conto, approvals are part of the payment control plane, not an afterthought layered on later.When to Use Approval Workflows
Approval workflows are a strong fit when you need any of the following:- Payments above a finance threshold
- New recipients that have not built trust yet
- Category-specific review, such as treasury or vendor onboarding flows
- Role-based approvals for finance, ops, or compliance
- Dual control or sequential review for larger transfers
How the Flow Works
How Conto Matches a Workflow
Conto evaluates active workflows in priority order and picks the first workflow whose trigger conditions match the payment context.Supported trigger conditions
| Trigger | What it matches |
|---|---|
amountThreshold | Amounts at or above a threshold |
currency | Currency-specific review |
categories | Category-based review, such as vendor or infrastructure spend |
agentTypes | Specific agent frameworks or classes |
newRecipients | First-time recipients |
counterpartyTrustLevel | Low-trust or unknown counterparties |
Workflow Settings That Matter
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
priority | Higher-priority workflows match first |
requiredApprovals | Number of approvals needed before a payment moves forward |
timeoutHours | Expiration window for pending requests |
allowSelfApproval | Whether the initiator can approve their own request |
approverRoles | Role-based access, such as OWNER or ADMIN |
specificApprovers | Explicit user allowlist for a workflow |
sequentialApproval | Enforces approval order when specific approvers are set |
Any rejection ends the workflow immediately. Approvals accumulate until the required approval
count is reached.
External Approval Channels
Approval requests can be delivered to external channels so finance or ops teams can act without logging into Conto for every review. Supported channels include:- Slack
- Telegram
- Webhook
Recommended Patterns
Pattern 1: Single approval for large payments
| Setting | Example |
|---|---|
| Trigger | amountThreshold = 100 |
| Required approvals | 1 |
| Approver roles | OWNER, ADMIN |
| Best for | Day-to-day spend that only needs review above a threshold |
Pattern 2: Review first-time recipients
| Setting | Example |
|---|---|
| Trigger | newRecipients = true |
| Required approvals | 1 |
| Approver roles | ADMIN |
| Best for | Preventing agents from sending funds to unknown addresses without review |
Pattern 3: Dual control for sensitive transfers
| Setting | Example |
|---|---|
| Trigger | amountThreshold = 5000 |
| Required approvals | 2 |
| Self approval | false |
| Best for | Treasury, vendor onboarding, or high-value transfers |
Pattern 4: Sequential approval for finance + security
| Setting | Example |
|---|---|
| Specific approvers | finance lead, then security lead |
| Sequential approval | true |
| Best for | Controls that require ordered sign-off from multiple stakeholders |
Pair Approval Workflows with Trust Scoring
One of the highest-signal combinations is:- Use trust scoring to classify counterparties.
- Let trusted or verified recipients flow normally.
- Route unknown or deteriorating counterparties into approval workflows.
Canonical Approval Architecture
The most common production stack looks like this:- Policy engine blocks clearly disallowed payments outright.
- Trust scoring enriches the recipient before the payment is evaluated.
- Approval workflows catch the gray area between auto-approve and hard deny.
- External channels deliver requests to the real stakeholders.
- Audit logs and webhooks make the outcome visible to finance and operations systems.
Related Guides
External Approvals
Connect Slack, email, Telegram, WhatsApp, or webhooks
Trust Scoring
Use counterparty trust as an approval trigger
Securing Agents
See where approvals fit in a layered policy model
Architecture Patterns
Visual reference for approval and payment flows