# Triage the approval queue (/docs/inbox/approval-queue)
The approval queue in the Command center holds everything agents want to do but need a person for, across every channel and contact, including items that have no conversation in the inbox. Work through it from the top: each card has what you need to decide, and the keyboard takes you from one to the next.
- **Who can use it:** Every built-in role can read the queue. Approving, editing, reassigning, snoozing and discarding need **Approve agent drafts** (Owner, Admin and Member by default) and **Reply** or **Manage** access on the item's channel. Other roles see the buttons greyed out (the **View only** notice at the top of the Command center says why), and the card menu only opens the item. Items on channels your role doesn't work in aren't listed, and the queue says **Showing the channels your role works in.** See [Roles and permissions](/docs/settings/roles).
- **Before you start:** Open the [Command center](/docs/inbox/command-center).
## Read the queue [#read-the-queue]
The queue shows how many items are pending, and four tabs:
| Tab | What it lists |
|---|---|
| **Needs approval** | Every waiting item, most urgent first. |
| **Escalated to me** | Conversations agents handed to a person. |
| **Low confidence** | Items below 0.80 confidence, escalations included. |
| **Auto-sent today** | Not a list: how many replies auto-approve rules sent today, and which rules sent them. |
The first three cards show. The footer says how many more wait and how old the oldest is; click **Show all** *n* to see them all, and **Show fewer** to fold them again.
## Read a card [#read-a-card]
- **Title**, with the contact's name as a link to their record.
- **Kind:** **Reply**, **Escalation** or **CRM update**, and the **channel**.
- **Confidence** and **age**, for example "0.94 confidence · 4m".
- **Who and what:** the agent, the company, the deal's value, and details such as how long WhatsApp's session window stays open.
- **The draft or the evidence**, quoted.
- **Held for you:** and the reason, when a guardrail needs a person. **Edited by you. It sends as you see it here.** when you've changed it. A countdown when an [auto-approve rule](/docs/inbox/auto-approve-rules) will send it.
- **The main button:** **Approve & send**, **Accept handoff** or **Approve update**. It's blue on the card you're on and outlined on the others.
- **How much evidence** it rests on, such as "3 sources" or "6 signals".
## Approve an item [#approve-an-item]
Click the card's main button:
- **Approve & send** sends the reply on its channel. A notice says **Reply sent to** *name* (and "Your edited version went out." if you changed it). The sent message says **Approved in the Command center** in the thread.
- **Accept handoff** makes the conversation yours: the agent won't contact the person until you hand it back. **Undo** on the notice reverses it.
- **Approve update** lets the agent apply the change on its next sync. **Undo** on the notice reverses it.
The card leaves the queue and the next card's button gets focus, so you can keep going. A quick second click is ignored, so a double-click never approves twice.
## Move through the queue with the keyboard [#move-through-the-queue-with-the-keyboard]
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| J / K | Next / previous card |
| A | Approve the focused card (send, accept or approve) |
| E | Edit the focused draft; on an escalation or update, open its thread or record |
The keys act on the card that holds keyboard focus. They don't fire while you're typing or while a menu or dialog is open. See [Keyboard shortcuts](/docs/settings/keyboard-shortcuts) to change them.
## Edit a draft before it goes [#edit-a-draft-before-it-goes]
### Open the editor [#open-the-editor]
Open the card's **More actions** (**…**) and choose **Edit draft**, or press E on the card.
### Change the reply [#change-the-reply]
The **Edit draft to** *name* dialog shows who wrote it and with what confidence, the channel, any hold, and the reply. Under the text, a counter shows how many characters the channel allows, for example 4,096 on WhatsApp. **Reset to the agent's draft** undoes your changes.
### Save or send [#save-or-send]
- **Save changes** keeps the edited draft in the queue, marked "Edited by you". An edited draft no longer sends on its own under a rule.
- **Approve & send** (⌘ Enter, or Ctrl Enter on Windows and Linux) sends it now.
The reply can't be empty ("Write a reply before you save or send it.") or longer than the channel allows ("WhatsApp delivers up to 4,096 characters. Shorten it by …").
If you close the dialog with unsaved changes, it asks **Discard your changes to this draft?**: choose **Keep editing** or **Discard changes**. Edits you make here also show in the inbox thread's draft, and the other way round.
| Channel | Longest reply |
|---|---|
| WhatsApp | 4,096 characters |
| Facebook | 2,000 |
| Instagram | 1,000 |
Other channels are coming soon (see [Connect a channel](/docs/channels/connect-a-channel#coming-soon)).
## Reassign to a teammate [#reassign-to-a-teammate]
### Open Reassign [#open-reassign]
Open the card's **More actions** (**…**) and choose **Reassign to a teammate**.
### Pick who handles it [#pick-who-handles-it]
Choose a teammate. Each one shows their role and email; viewers can't be picked, because they can't approve drafts. Add a **Note (optional)**, such as why you're handing it over or what to watch for (up to 280 characters).
### Reassign it [#reassign-it]
Click **Reassign**. The item leaves your queue and waits for them, and they get a notification with your note. **Undo** on the notice brings it back.
If you're the only person in the workspace, or everyone else is a viewer, the dialog says so; invite a teammate or change a role in [Members](/docs/settings/members) first.
## Snooze an item [#snooze-an-item]
Open the card's **More actions** (**…**) and choose **Snooze for 1 hour**. The item leaves the queue, and the notice says when it comes back. After an hour it returns with a notice, **Back from snooze**; a draft with an auto-send countdown gets a fresh review window. **Undo** on the notice brings it back now.
## Discard or dismiss an item [#discard-or-dismiss-an-item]
### Choose discard [#choose-discard]
Open the card's **More actions** (**…**) and choose **Discard draft**, **Dismiss escalation** or **Dismiss update**.
### Confirm [#confirm]
Confirm in the dialog. Nothing is sent, and the item leaves your queue. **Undo** on the notice brings it back.
| Kind | Confirm button | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Reply | **Discard draft** | Nothing is sent. |
| Escalation | **Dismiss escalation** | It leaves your queue without a handoff. |
| CRM update | **Dismiss update** | The record stays as it is. |
## Approve confident replies in bulk [#approve-confident-replies-in-bulk]
### Start bulk approve [#start-bulk-approve]
At the bottom of the queue, click **Approve** *n* **with confidence 0.90 or higher**. It counts replies at 0.90 or above that no guardrail holds, on channels you can reply on.
### Check the list and send [#check-the-list-and-send]
The dialog lists each reply with its confidence. Drafts held for you, like legal terms or deals above $100K, stay in the queue. Click **Send** *n* **replies**, or **Keep reviewing** to go back.
Each reply goes out on its own channel at once, and a notice confirms how many were sent.
## Open an item's thread or record [#open-an-items-thread-or-record]
The card's **More actions** has **Open in inbox** when the item belongs to a conversation, or **Open record** otherwise. The contact's name in the title also opens their record.
Links to a single item, such as **Review draft** on a contact's record, open the Command center on that card: the queue switches to a tab that holds it, shows all items if needed, and focuses it. If the item is no longer waiting, a notice, **That item isn't waiting anymore**, says what happened to it and when, for example that you approved it and the reply went out. If the link doesn't match any item, or the item is on a channel your role doesn't work in, the notice says that instead.
## Look at a tab [#look-at-a-tab]
**Escalated to me** lists only escalations, with **Accept handoff** on each.
**Auto-sent today** shows how many replies rules sent today and which rules sent them, for example "Pricing follow-ups · Closer Agent · 112 sent". **Manage rules** (or **View rules** for roles that can't change them) opens the rules; the menu next to it opens the agent's runs.
When a tab is empty, it says so: **You're all caught up**, **No escalations** or **No low-confidence drafts**. **Show all** *n* **waiting** goes back to **Needs approval**, and **Review auto-approve rules** opens the rules.
## When your role can't approve [#when-your-role-cant-approve]
The cards still show everything, but the main button is greyed out, the menu only opens the item, bulk approve is off, and the rules open read-only. The **View only** notice at the top of the Command center explains why (see [When your role can only read](/docs/inbox/command-center#when-your-role-can-only-read)); screen readers also announce the reason with each button.
## Troubleshooting [#troubleshooting]
Bulk approve leaves out drafts a guardrail holds (legal terms, deals above $100K, leads routed to you), replies under 0.90 confidence, and replies on channels you can't reply on. Review those one by one.
Someone already handled it: the notice says how and when. The queue opens without it.
Nothing changed and the item is still in the queue. Click **Retry** on the notice.
The Reassign dialog couldn't fetch the member list. Click **Try again** in the dialog.
You can't reassign to yourself, and viewers can't be picked because they can't approve drafts. Change their role in [Members](/docs/settings/members) if needed.
## Next steps [#next-steps]