ApproveThis + LaunchDarkly: Smarter Approvals for Safer Feature Rollouts

When Approval Workflows Meet Feature Flags

Let’s get real: software teams waste too much time chasing down approvals through Slack threads, emails, and hallway conversations. Meanwhile, LaunchDarkly users already know feature flags help deploy code faster – but what happens when you need human judgment before flipping that switch? That’s where ApproveThis comes in. We’re not here to replace your tools. We’re the glue that lets your team move fast without breaking things (or compliance rules).

Why This Combo Works

LaunchDarkly gives engineering teams precision control over features. ApproveThis gives business teams precision control over decisions. Together through Zapier, they create guardrails that let technical and non-technical teams collaborate without bottlenecks:

• No more missed approvals: Turn flag activity into tracked requests automatically
• Audit trails that actually help: See who approved what feature change – and why

Best part? Approvers don’t need LaunchDarkly licenses. External clients, legal teams, or execs can review requests through email or our dashboard. No new logins, no added costs.

Real Uses for Real Teams

1. Feature Flag Approvals That Don’t Slow Down Devs

Scenario: Your SaaS company uses LaunchDarkly to test a new checkout flow. The legal team needs to sign off before exposing it to EU users.

How it works:

1. Zapier detects new flag activity in LaunchDarkly
2. ApproveThis auto-creates a request with context (flag name, environment, target users)
3. Legal team approves/rejects via email in 2 clicks
4. LaunchDarkly updates automatically based on decision

Who wins: Engineering keeps deploying. Legal meets compliance. Customers get features faster.

2. Security Checks for Access Token Changes

Scenario: Your fintech startup’s DevOps team rotates LaunchDarkly access tokens quarterly. The CISO wants to review any new token creation.

The fix:

Every access token event in LaunchDarkly triggers an ApproveThis request. Security leads get an email showing:

• Who initiated the change
• Scopes/permissions added
• Expiration dates

Approval takes 30 seconds. Denials automatically revoke the token. No more spreadsheets tracking who approved what.

3. Coordinated Feature Rollouts Across Teams

Scenario: Your e-commerce platform’s product team wants to launch a holiday promo feature. Needs approvals from marketing (copy), engineering (scalability), and finance (discount thresholds).

The flow:

ApproveThis creates parallel approval tracks when a flag is modified. Marketing gets the UI copy review, finance sees projected discount impacts via calculated fields, engineering checks load tests. All decisions sync back to update the LaunchDarkly flag status.

Bonus: If someone’s OOO, vacation delegation auto-reroutes their approvals. No launch delays.

Setting This Up Without Losing Your Mind

We’ve all seen “easy integrations” that require a CS degree. Here’s the real talk:

1. Connect ApproveThis and LaunchDarkly to Zapier (5 mins total)
2. Pick your trigger: “Flag activity” or “Access token event” in LaunchDarkly
3. Map key data to ApproveThis fields (flag name, environment, change details)
4. Set approval rules: Who needs to sign off? Consensus or sequential? Any auto-approve thresholds?

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis’ conditional logic to auto-route requests. $50K+ discounts go to the CFO? Finance team gets those automatically. Feature flag changes in production? Those hit the engineering manager first.

Who Benefits Most

DevOps Teams

Stop being the messenger between engineering and legal. When flag changes require approvals, ApproveThis becomes the system of record. Your team spends less time chasing emails, more time shipping.

Security & Compliance

Every access token change or production flag modification gets documented approval. Real-time tracking means you’re audit-ready 24/7 – without gatekeeping progress.

Product Managers

Coordinate feature releases across departments without herding cats. Set approval thresholds so minor copy changes don’t need VP review, but major UI shifts do. LaunchDarkly stays your source of truth, ApproveThis handles the human layer.

The Cool Features You’ll Actually Use

We’re not here to sell you bloatware. Here’s what matters when paired with LaunchDarkly:

Email approvals: Approvers don’t need another login. Click approve/reject in their inbox. Done.

Calculated fields: Automatically show risk levels based on flag parameters. Example: “This change affects 100% of mobile users – escalation required.”

Approval groups: Need 3/5 engineers to approve a production change? Set it once. No repeat configs.

Common “Yeah, Buts…” Addressed

“Won’t this add more steps for engineers?”

Nope. The whole point is removing steps. Engineers keep working in LaunchDarkly. ApproveThis automates the compliance paperwork they hate.

“Our legal team barely checks email.”

Set up automatic reminders with escalating urgency. Or use approval thresholds – if they don’t respond in 48 hours, auto-route to their deputy.

Ready to Stop Playing Approval Operator?

ApproveThis isn’t another tool – it’s how mature teams handle approvals without becoming bureaucrats. Paired with LaunchDarkly through Zapier, you get:

→ Faster releases with audit trails
→ Fewer context-switching headaches
→ No more “Who approved this?!” postmortems

Get started free or book a 15-minute demo to see real-world setups. No sales jargon – just how to fix your approval chaos.

P.S. Zapier makes this integration stupid simple. See how it works.