Deciding before a rule is added

An approval is a request asking a person to allow or reject something before it happens. Cook uses them all over the product — see How to approve work for the general rules. This page covers the two that playbooks ask for.

When it wants to add a rule

A standard is a written rule that Cook follows on every job, such as “never quote a price by text”. Because one standard changes a lot of future work, Cook never adds one quietly.

Each standard arrives as its own request, showing the full text. The exact words you approve are the words that get saved. The install screen tells you how many are waiting.

When you remove a whole setup

Removing a playbook deletes the routines it created and stops anything they had running. Cook asks you to approve that first, and the request names exactly where it is being removed from, so you do not clear the wrong one.

Nothing is deleted before you approve. Standards are not removed with the playbook — they stay until you remove them yourself.

Where to find requests

Open Approvals. You will see these requests beside other work that needs a decision, such as drafted replies or work sent for review.

Each request shows:

• what action is being requested;
• who or what requested it;
• when it was requested.

Choose Approve or Reject on the request.

If a request came from a chat, it also appears as a card in that chat. Deciding in either place closes the same request.

Three things worth knowing

• A newer request replaces the older request for the same item. You cannot approve an abandoned draft.
• Open requests expire after 30 days. Nothing runs. The request is marked as expired, not rejected.
• Rejecting closes the request. Nothing happens. If you add a note saying why, Cook uses it on the next attempt.