---
title: "Dynamic Request Naming"
description: "Title every request from its own form answers — vendor, amount, requester — so approvers can tell requests apart at a glance in dashboards and notifications."
category: "Building workflows"
updated: 2026-08-27
canonical: https://approvethis.com/docs/manuals/dynamic-request-naming
---

# Dynamic Request Naming

A dashboard full of rows all reading "New Request" tells an approver nothing. On a workflow's Settings tab, the Request Name section stores a formula that builds each request's title from the answers submitted on its own form — vendor, amount, requester — and that title then appears everywhere the request does, including notifications. This guide is for Administrators working on a published workflow that already has form fields to reference. Note that a formula change applies only to requests submitted after you save; requests already in flight keep the names they have.

**Who this is for:** an Administrator.

> **Prerequisite:** Sign in as an Administrator.

> **Getting here:** Open the workflow whose request titles you want to change and go to its Settings tab.


## Open the 'Request Name' settings and edit the formula so request titles combine two identifying fields from the form, then test and save the formula

Combining two identifying answers — say a vendor and an amount — into the title gives approvers enough context to triage without opening each request. The editor validates as you type and lets you dry-run the formula against a real past submission before you commit it.

1. Sign in as an Administrator.
2. Click **Request Name** to open the section that defines how individual requests are titled in dashboards and notifications.

   ![Click Request Name to open the section that defines how individual requests are titled in dashboards and notifications.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/dynamic-request-naming/screenshots/dynamic-request-naming-s1-01.png)

3. Click **Edit Formula** to open the formula editor.

   ![Click Edit Formula to open the formula editor.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/dynamic-request-naming/screenshots/dynamic-request-naming-s1-02.png)

4. Type your formula into **Type your formula here...**, referencing the form fields that identify a request; typing `{{` pops up an autocomplete of the workflow's fields, and quoted text placed beside a field is joined automatically. The example uses `{{vendor_name}} ~ " - " ~ {{amount}}`. File upload fields and hidden fields cannot be referenced.

   ![Type your formula into Type your formula here..., referencing the form fields that identify a request; typing {{ pops up an autocomplete of the workflow's…](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/dynamic-request-naming/screenshots/dynamic-request-naming-s1-03.png)

5. In **Select a workflow to test with:**, choose one of the workflow's recent requests to test against — the example screenshots show `New Request (Aug 21, 2026)`.

   ![In Select a workflow to test with:, choose one of the workflow's recent requests to test against — the example screenshots show New Request (Aug 21, 2026).](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/dynamic-request-naming/screenshots/dynamic-request-naming-s1-04.png)

6. Click **Run Test** to see the exact title that request's real answers produce.

   ![Click Run Test to see the exact title that request's real answers produce.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/dynamic-request-naming/screenshots/dynamic-request-naming-s1-05.png)

7. Click **Save Formula** to store the formula on the workflow.

   ![Click Save Formula to store the formula on the workflow.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/dynamic-request-naming/screenshots/dynamic-request-naming-s1-06.png)


> **Success cue:** The test panel renders the finished title from the selected request's answers, reading **Sample Vendor name - 100** in the example.

> **What happens next:** After saving, the 'Current Formula' card on the Settings tab shows the saved formula with a sample rendering built from placeholder values (the Run Test panel is what shows a real request's title). Every request submitted from now on is titled by the formula; requests submitted before the change keep their existing names.