# Approvals: review AI drafts before they go live

> Edit, approve, reschedule, or regenerate posts that need approval. What Needs approval means, and when Approvals stays empty.

- HTML: https://postless.app/guides/approvals
- Published: 2026-09-03
- Author: Postless
- Category: Product
- Tags: founders, creators, agencies, teams, auto-publish

**Approvals** (sidebar) is the review queue for the active brand: “Posts awaiting your approval before publishing.”

AI-generated posts wait here when **Require approval** is on for that brand (the default). Posts you write yourself with **Create Post** do not.

## What “Needs approval” means

The badge **Needs approval** means the post is AI-generated and not approved yet. It will not publish — not at the scheduled time, and not via **Publish now** — until you approve it.

Dashboard counts these under **Pending reviews**.

A separate badge **Review suggested · AI quality n/10** is quality guidance only. It does not change workflow status.

## Open the queue

1. Select the brand in the sidebar switcher.
2. Click **Approvals**.
3. Or use Dashboard **Quick Actions → Approvals**.

The list is that brand only.

## Review a post

On each card you can:

1. **Edit** — opens the post editor (copy, platforms, media).
2. **Reschedule** — pick a new date and time.
3. **Approve** — marks the post approved. If it has a scheduled time, it stays on **Scheduler** and publishes when due.
4. **Approve & Publish Now** — only when the status is **Missed** (scheduled time already passed while it was still unapproved).

In the editor, unapproved AI posts show **Approve** instead of the **Publish** menu. After approval, **Publish** offers **Publish now** and **Schedule…**.

**Regenerate** (editor) rewrites AI copy. It does not approve the post. Regenerations per post are capped by plan (Creator 3; Pro and Team 5). When the cap is hit, **Regenerate** is disabled.

**Save** stores edits without approving.

## What happens after Approve

| Starting state                                 | After **Approve**                                                              |
| ---------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Has a future schedule                          | Leaves Approvals; **Scheduled** on **Scheduler**; goes out at `scheduled` time |
| **Missed**, you used **Approve & Publish Now** | **Published** (if connected accounts and media rules pass)                     |
| No schedule                                    | Approved draft; use **Publish now** or **Schedule…** in the editor             |

Turning **Require approval** off does not auto-approve posts already in the queue. Those stay listed until you approve or delete them. New AI posts skip the queue.

## When Approvals is empty

Empty title: **No posts awaiting review**.

- Approval off: “Nothing left to approve. New posts publish automatically while approval is off.”
- Approval on: “When approval is required, new posts land here first.”

**Create Post** from that empty state opens a manual draft, which will not appear here.

## If this fails

- **Connect a platform for this brand before approving or publishing.** Use **Open brand publishing** (Publishing Defaults) or **Settings → Connections**.
- **Character limit exceeded — edit before publishing.** **Approve** is blocked until copy fits.
- Instagram variant with no media: approve/publish is blocked until you attach or generate media (**Media → Attach from inbox…** or **Generate with AI…**).
- **Approval is turned off for [brand].** New AI posts skip this page. Enable **Require approval** in brand **Workflow** if you want new posts here first.
- You generated from **Planner** or **Inbox** but see nothing: confirm the active brand matches, and that the post is AI-generated.

## Related

- [Require approval and auto-publish](https://postless.app/guides/auto-publish)
- [Scheduling](https://postless.app/guides/scheduling)
- [Getting started](https://postless.app/guides/getting-started)