---
title: "overlane task approval new"
description: "Ask the task's bot or a person a question that must be answered before work goes on"
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.overlane.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# overlane task approval new

{/* Generated by apps/docs/scripts/generate.mjs (CLI pages from the command registry in packages/cli). Do not edit; run `pnpm --filter @overlane/docs gen`. */}

Opens an approval for the task with a question. If the task is assigned to a bot, the question goes to the bot's thread; anyone with write access may answer it with `overlane approval answer`. It expires after --ttl-seconds (15 minutes to 7 days, default 1 day). A retry of the same command opens it once.

## Usage

```sh
overlane task approval new task-id --question TEXT [--ttl-seconds SECONDS] [--dry-run]
```

## Arguments

| Argument | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `task-id` | yes | The task the question is about |

## Flags

| Flag | Type | Required | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `--question` | string | yes |  | What to ask, up to 1000 characters |
| `--ttl-seconds` | string | no |  | How long the question stays open: 900 to 604800 (default 86400) |
| `--dry-run` | boolean | no |  | Print the requests and file changes this command would make, then stop. Needs no credentials. |

## Examples

```sh
overlane task approval new task-12 --question "Ship the migration tonight?"
overlane task approval new task-12 --question "Delete the old bucket?" --ttl-seconds 3600 --dry-run
```

## Behavior

- Effect: `write` (changes local or hosted state).
- Needs credentials: yes. Uses the network: yes.
- Supports `--dry-run`: yes. Accepts `--force`: no.
- Machine-readable description: `overlane schema task approval new`.

## Result

With `--json` (the default when stdout is not a terminal) the command prints this JSON Schema's shape on stdout.

```json
{
  "anyOf": [
    {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "approvalId": {
          "type": "string",
          "pattern": "^apr_[A-Za-z0-9]{8,32}$",
          "description": "approval identifier"
        },
        "tenantId": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1,
          "maxLength": 128,
          "pattern": "^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9_.:-]*$",
          "description": "tenant identifier"
        },
        "projectId": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1,
          "maxLength": 128,
          "pattern": "^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9_.:-]*$",
          "description": "project identifier"
        },
        "taskId": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1,
          "maxLength": 128,
          "pattern": "^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9_.:-]*$",
          "description": "task identifier"
        },
        "botId": {
          "type": "string",
          "pattern": "^bot_[A-Za-z0-9]{8,32}$",
          "description": "bot identifier"
        },
        "question": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1,
          "maxLength": 1000
        },
        "status": {
          "type": "string",
          "enum": [
            "pending",
            "approved",
            "denied",
            "expired"
          ]
        },
        "requestedBy": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1,
          "maxLength": 200
        },
        "createdAt": {
          "type": "string",
          "format": "date-time",
          "pattern": "^(?:(?:\\d\\d[2468][048]|\\d\\d[13579][26]|\\d\\d0[48]|[02468][048]00|[13579][26]00)-02-29|\\d{4}-(?:(?:0[13578]|1[02])-(?:0[1-9]|[12]\\d|3[01])|(?:0[469]|11)-(?:0[1-9]|[12]\\d|30)|(?:02)-(?:0[1-9]|1\\d|2[0-8])))T(?:(?:[01]\\d|2[0-3]):[0-5]\\d:[0-5]\\d(?:\\.\\d+)?(?:Z|([+-](?:[01]\\d|2[0-3]):[0-5]\\d)))$"
        },
        "expiresAt": {
          "type": "string",
          "format": "date-time",
          "pattern": "^(?:(?:\\d\\d[2468][048]|\\d\\d[13579][26]|\\d\\d0[48]|[02468][048]00|[13579][26]00)-02-29|\\d{4}-(?:(?:0[13578]|1[02])-(?:0[1-9]|[12]\\d|3[01])|(?:0[469]|11)-(?:0[1-9]|[12]\\d|30)|(?:02)-(?:0[1-9]|1\\d|2[0-8])))T(?:(?:[01]\\d|2[0-3]):[0-5]\\d:[0-5]\\d(?:\\.\\d+)?(?:Z|([+-](?:[01]\\d|2[0-3]):[0-5]\\d)))$"
        },
        "answeredBy": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1,
          "maxLength": 200
        },
        "answeredAt": {
          "type": "string",
          "format": "date-time",
          "pattern": "^(?:(?:\\d\\d[2468][048]|\\d\\d[13579][26]|\\d\\d0[48]|[02468][048]00|[13579][26]00)-02-29|\\d{4}-(?:(?:0[13578]|1[02])-(?:0[1-9]|[12]\\d|3[01])|(?:0[469]|11)-(?:0[1-9]|[12]\\d|30)|(?:02)-(?:0[1-9]|1\\d|2[0-8])))T(?:(?:[01]\\d|2[0-3]):[0-5]\\d:[0-5]\\d(?:\\.\\d+)?(?:Z|([+-](?:[01]\\d|2[0-3]):[0-5]\\d)))$"
        },
        "note": {
          "type": "string",
          "maxLength": 1000
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "approvalId",
        "tenantId",
        "projectId",
        "taskId",
        "question",
        "status",
        "requestedBy",
        "createdAt",
        "expiresAt"
      ],
      "additionalProperties": false
    },
    {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "dryRun": {
          "type": "boolean",
          "const": true
        },
        "service": {
          "type": "string"
        },
        "requests": {
          "type": "array",
          "items": {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {
              "method": {
                "type": "string"
              },
              "path": {
                "type": "string"
              },
              "body": {},
              "note": {
                "type": "string"
              }
            },
            "required": [
              "method",
              "path"
            ],
            "additionalProperties": false
          }
        },
        "commands": {
          "type": "array",
          "items": {
            "type": "string"
          }
        },
        "writes": {
          "type": "array",
          "items": {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {
              "path": {
                "type": "string"
              },
              "action": {
                "type": "string",
                "enum": [
                  "write",
                  "append",
                  "delete"
                ]
              },
              "description": {
                "type": "string"
              }
            },
            "required": [
              "path",
              "action",
              "description"
            ],
            "additionalProperties": false
          }
        },
        "notes": {
          "type": "array",
          "items": {
            "type": "string"
          }
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "dryRun",
        "requests",
        "commands",
        "writes",
        "notes"
      ],
      "additionalProperties": false
    }
  ]
}
```

See [exit codes](/cli/#exit-codes) for the status the process returns.

Source: https://docs.overlane.app/cli/task-approval-new/index.mdx