# Set up two-party approvals

Require two-party approval for certain sensitive actions.

Approvals lets admins require a second person to review sensitive actions before they take effect. Rules apply to human users acting through the Dashboard, CLI, or MCP, and to autonomous agents using [agent-tagged API keys](https://docs.stripe.com/keys.md#agent-keys) through the API, CLI, or MCP.

When an action triggers an approval rule, it’s paused and an approval request is created. A designated reviewer approves or denies the request. Approved actions are completed automatically; denied actions are discarded with no changes made.

## Supported actions 

You can require approval for the following actions:

- Bank account is added or updated
- Bank account is deleted
- Payment intent is created
- Invoice is created
- Refund is created
- Subscription is created
- Subscription is cancelled

## Create an approval rule 

1. Go to **Settings** > [Approvals](https://dashboard.stripe.com/settings/approvals/rules).
1. Click **Create rule**, then select the action that triggers the approval.
1. Optionally, click **Add condition** to add one or more trigger conditions. For example, require approval for a refund only if the amount exceeds a threshold. If you add multiple conditions, you can choose whether to combine them with `and` or `or`.
1. Set the control:
   - **Require approval**: The action is paused until a reviewer approves it.
   - **Block**: The action is rejected outright.
1. Choose **who can review requests**: specific team members, or anyone with the Administrator or Super Administrator role.
1. Optionally, enter a **name** for the rule.
1. Click **Activate** to save and enable the rule immediately, or **Save changes** to save it as inactive.

You can activate, deactivate, or delete rules at any time from the Approvals settings page. Only one active rule can apply to a given action.

## Handle API requests that require two-party approval 

When an agent-tagged API key attempts an action that triggers an approval rule, Stripe blocks the request and returns an `approval_required` error containing a pending `approval_request` object. The agent must decide how to proceed.

### Receive the error

```bash
stripe refunds create \
  --charge=ch_1NirD82eZvKYlo2CIvbtLWuY
```

```json
{
  "error": {
    "code": "approval_required",
    "type": "invalid_request_error",
    "message": "This action requires approval before it can be completed. An approval request (apreq_test_61UTlnIc6qlJSHVBD16TkRqlEkSQ55yeUApuueFJIDCS) has been automatically generated but has not been submitted. To proceed, submit the request for review via POST /v2/core/approval_requests/apreq_test_61UTlnIc6qlJSHVBD16TkRqlEkSQ55yeUApuueFJIDCS/submit — if approved, it will automatically execute.",
    "approval_request": {
      "id": "apreq_test_61UTlnIc6qlJSHVBD16TkRqlEkSQ55yeUApuueFJIDCS",
      "object": "approval_request",
      "action": "create_refund",
      "status": "pending",
      "dashboard_url": "https://dashboard.stripe.com/approval_requests/apreq_test_61UTlnIc6qlJSHVBD16TkRqlEkSQ55yeUApuueFJIDCS",
      "expires_at": "2026-03-10T19:00:00Z"
    }
  }
}
```

### Respond to the request

The agent can either submit the request for manual review, or, if the action isn’t required, ignore it. Submitted requests appear in the Dashboard under **Settings > Approvals > [Requests](https://dashboard.stripe.com/settings/approvals/requests)**. Unsubmitted approval requests expire automatically after 24 hours.

> Agent-tagged API keys must have the `approval_requests.write` permission to submit an approval request.

To submit a request:

```curl
curl -X POST https://api.stripe.com/v2/core/approval_requests/apreq_1R4kXn2eZvKYlo2C/submit \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <<YOUR_SECRET_KEY>>" \
  -H "Stripe-Version: 2026-04-22.preview" \
  --json '{
    "reason": "Customer support request for Jenny Rosen"
  }'
```

## Review approval requests 

Designated reviewers can approve or deny requests [on the Requests page](https://dashboard.stripe.com/settings/approvals/requests) in the Dashboard. Use the filters to view requests by status, then click a request to view its details and respond.

When a request is approved, the action completes automatically. When a request is denied, no changes are made. A user can’t approve their own request.

## Monitor approval activity 

Approval events appear in [Security history](https://dashboard.stripe.com/settings/security_history) under **Settings** > **Team and security**. The following events are logged:

- Approval rule created, updated, activated, deactivated, or deleted
- Approval request created
- Approval request approved or denied

You can also view API requests where approval was required from [Logs in Workbench](https://dashboard.stripe.com/workbench/logs). Click an API request to view it.

## Webhooks and events 

Because approval requests are reviewed asynchronously, you might want to create a webhook to listen for an event once an approval request is approved (`v2.core.approval_request.approved`) or rejected (`v2.core.approval_request.rejected`). If you no longer need an approval request to be reviewed, you can cancel it, which generates a `v2.core.approval_request.canceled` event.

After approval, requests are auto-executed, and emit either `v2.core.approval_request.succeeded` or `v2.core.approval_request.failed`.

## See also

- [API keys](https://docs.stripe.com/keys.md)
- [User roles](https://docs.stripe.com/get-started/account/teams/roles.md)