Announcing support for end user comments in approval requests

Announced on | Rollout starts | Rollout ends
December 15, 2025 | December 15, 2025 | December 17, 2025

Zendesk is excited to launch an enhancement to approval requests that allows end-user approvers to add comments to approval requests.

This announcement includes the following topics:

What is changing?

Why is Zendesk making this change?

What do I need to do?

What is changing?

Until now, only agent approvers have had the option to add comments to approval requests. This enhancement extends that option to end-user approvers, so they can also communicate directly with the ticket assignees within the context of the approval request. Comment threads in approval requests make the approval request itself a single source of information by providing insight into the decision making process and any additional information taken into consideration.

Key features of comments within approval requests include:

End-user approvers can add and view comments on approval requests assigned to them

The ability to post and view an approval request's comments from the moment the request is created until it is approved, denied, or withdrawn

Email notifications to the approver and ticket assignee, respectively, when new comments are added

"New" indicators for unread comments in an approval request

Comments are associated with an individual approval request rather than the ticket as a whole

Comments are only allowed while the approval request's status is pending. No comments can be added after the request is approved, denied, or withdrawn

Why is Zendesk making this change?

Until now, end-user approvers lacked visibility into approval request communications. They only had the option to approve or deny requests assigned to them, so if any clarification or additional information was necessary, that communication was forced to occur outside of the approval request. The fragmented communication slowed down the approval request process and disrupted important audit trails and context.

By extending commenting to end-user approvers, Zendesk aims to enhance the in-context communication for all approvers, reduce delays, improve completion rates, and increase customer satisfaction with approval workflows.

What do I need to do?

This functionality is being rolled out to all accounts with access to approval requests. However, for end users to see the option to add comments to an approval request, your help center must be on the latest version of the standard Copenhagen theme (version 4.23.0) or you must manually update your custom theme to include the latest versions of the approval assets.

If you have feedback or questions related to this announcement, visit our community forum where we collect and manage customer product feedback. For general assistance with your Zendesk products, contact Zendesk Customer Support.