---
title: How to approve, refuse or undo a suggested change
url: https://tideswell.xyz/docs/analyst/approve-a-suggested-change
description: How to review, approve, reject or undo a change the Agent prepares, since nothing changes until a person approves it.
---

> Documentation index: fetch https://tideswell.xyz/llms.txt to discover every page before exploring further.

# How to approve, refuse or undo a suggested change



When you ask the **Agent** to make a task, change a purchase order, record a decision or post in
a channel, it does not make the change itself. It answers with a **review card** that shows the
exact change, and nothing changes until a person approves it. See <Ref to="analyst" /> for the
Agent itself.

Most approved changes can be undone afterwards, from the Agent's **Updates** view.

## Before you start [#before-you-start]

Changes need the **Brain** module switched on in **Settings › Modules**, per
<Ref to="workspace-admin/modules" />. Your workspace also needs Agent approvals switched on, which
Tideswell does for you. Without either, the Agent answers questions and prepares nothing.

If the Agent says exact agent approvals are not enabled for this workspace, contact Tideswell.

Asking for a change needs the **Ask the Brain to suggest a change** row on **Settings ›
Permissions**. Seeing the suggestions waiting in your workspace needs the **See what the Brain
has noticed** row. Members have both by default; see <Ref to="workspace-admin/permissions" />.

## What can the Agent prepare? [#what-can-the-agent-prepare]

Ask for the change in plain words in the Agent panel, the same way you ask a question
(<Ref to="analyst/ask-a-question" /&#x3E;). Or press **+ › Actions** for the list of what it can do for
you, grouped by area. It can prepare:

* **Tasks and projects**: a new task, a change to one task, the same change to several tasks at
  once, a note on a task, or a new project.
* **Records**: a new supplier or a new record in one of your own Objects, or changes across many
  of them.
* **Purchase orders**: a new draft with its vendor and products, new quantities, new dates, or a
  request for its approval.
* **Documents**: a new document, a new name for one, or one paragraph rewritten.
* **A decision**, with what was decided, why, what was rejected and what it affects.
* **A chat message**: a post in one channel you can post in.

Purchase order changes are offered to people who can see purchase orders, and decisions to people
who can see decisions. Your workspace may use its own word for tasks, purchase orders or
suppliers; **Settings › Terminology** shows both.

## What does a review card show? [#what-does-a-review-card-show]

The card sits under the Agent's answer. Its heading says what will change, and a status line under
it starts **Ready for review**.

* **Target**, the record or records it changes, with a count.
* **Exact changes**: each field, with **Before** and **After** side by side.
* **Consequences**: anything else the change will set off.
* **Cannot approve**, in red, when something stops it, with the reason.

The card also says when the review expires. A review that runs out reads **Review expired**, and
**Refresh review** prepares it again from what the records hold now.

## How do you approve one? [#how-do-you-approve-one]

Read **Exact changes** and **Consequences**, then press **Approve these changes**. The change is
made under your name, exactly as if you had made it by hand.

The status moves to **In progress** and then **Completed**, and **Open result** takes you to what
changed. When only some of it could be made, the status reads **Partly completed** and the card
lists what was skipped.

A few changes ask for a bigger screen. On a phone, they read "This action requires review on a
larger screen."

## Can you change it before you approve? [#can-you-change-it-before-you-approve]

Yes. Change the boxes under **Edit proposed fields**, such as a task's due date or the words of a
message. The card then reads "Your edits invalidate this review. Refresh the changes before
approving."

Press **Refresh review** to see the exact changes again with your edits, then approve.

## How do you turn one down? [#how-do-you-turn-one-down]

Press **Reject**. **Cancel review** closes the review without approving it.

A suggestion waiting in **Updates** has &#x2A;*Refuse…** instead. Write why in the box, then press
**Refuse it**, so the person who asked knows what to change. Refusing someone else's suggestion
needs the **Dismiss or turn down the Brain's suggestions** row, which leads and admins have by
default.

## Do some requests run without a review? [#do-some-requests-run-without-a-review]

Three requests you type yourself, worded exactly like these, run once you send them:

* `Create a project called Spring launch`, optionally followed by `in department Marketing`.
* `Create a document called Lab dip notes`.
* `Replace paragraph 3 in document "Lab dip notes" with "The mill confirmed the dye lot."`

The card shows its progress while it works, and **Refresh status** checks on it. Any other
wording, a skill, or a message with files attached gets a review card as usual.

## What can a drafted message say, and where can it go? [#what-can-a-drafted-message-say-and-where-can-it-go]

A drafted message is plain text, up to 4,000 characters, and it cannot @mention or ping anyone.
It goes into one channel you can post in, under your name. When the channel does not fit, nothing
is sent and the card says why.

A draft is yours alone. Nobody else sees it under **Waiting on a decision**, and nobody else is
told it exists, until you approve it.

## Who can approve a suggestion? [#who-can-approve-a-suggestion]

Anyone who holds every permission the change itself needs. They are the same rows that let you
make that change by hand: **Create tasks** for a new task, **Edit purchase orders and the buying
calendar** for a purchase order, **Record decisions** for a decision.

When you cannot approve it, the card reads "Waiting for someone who can make this change to
approve it." The people who can are told, so you do not need to chase them.

A drafted chat message is the exception. Only the person who asked for it can send it.

## How do the people who can approve find out? [#how-do-the-people-who-can-approve-find-out]

A line reading "suggested a change for you to approve" lands in their **Work › Inbox**, and
clicking it opens the suggestion in the Agent panel. A task suggestion goes to the person it is
assigned to and the leads of its team.

They also get a push notification, "A suggested change is waiting for you". Each person can turn
that off under **User menu › Account settings › What buzzes you › Suggestions**, and the
suggestion still waits in their Inbox. See <Ref to="notifications/turn-them-on" />.

## Where do waiting suggestions collect? [#where-do-waiting-suggestions-collect]

In the Agent panel under **History › Updates**, in the section **Waiting on a decision**. Every
suggestion you are allowed to see waits there, with **Approve**, &#x2A;*Refuse…** and **Details**.

**Details** shows a preview of exactly what will change. After **Approve**, the card reads
&#x2A;*Done.** with **Open it** and **Undo**.

When nothing is waiting, the section reads "Nothing is waiting." The rest of the Updates view is
covered in <Ref to="analyst/daily-brief" />.

## Do suggestions show on the record they are about? [#do-suggestions-show-on-the-record-they-are-about]

Yes. A purchase order, a supplier, a task and a record of one of your own Objects each show a
**Suggested changes** section while something waits about it.

Each card there has **Review in Agent**, which opens the full card in the panel. When more are
waiting than fit, the section ends with "More are waiting about this record. See them all."

## How do you undo a change? [#how-do-you-undo-a-change]

Open **History › Updates** in the Agent panel and find the change under **Changes made from
suggestions**. Each row there says who applied it and when.

**Undo** shows only to people allowed to take that change back, which usually means holding the
permissions the change itself needed. The person who approved a new task, a note or a decision can
always undo it, and a decision can be undone only by them.

Make sure before you confirm an Undo, because there is no redo. If somebody has edited the same
thing since, Undo puts back what it can and leaves their edit alone. The row then reads **Partly
undone**.

## Where else do suggestions come from? [#where-else-do-suggestions-come-from]

While the Agent in chat is switched on, a late purchase order can bring a suggested task to call
the supplier about it. Its header reads **Suggested by the watcher**, and it waits in **Waiting on
a decision** like any other. See <Ref to="analyst/add-the-assistant-to-chat" /> and
<Ref to="purchasing/find-late-orders" />.

The Agent can also bring a suggestion to your Agent Inbox, where **Review here** opens it, per
<Ref to="analyst/agent-inbox" />.

## Why did the Agent say it cannot suggest a change? [#why-did-the-agent-say-it-cannot-suggest-a-change]

Because the conversation has read a private channel or a call's notes. Start a new chat and ask
again, so a suggestion never carries a private conversation to people outside it.