Approvals and reviews
Add reviewers to a post, invite outside guests without an account, and understand what blocks publishing.
What needs your action, and what doesn't
Two different queues get confused for each other, because both can show a post "waiting":
- Approvals (this article) only exists on a post that has reviewers assigned, either by hand or as a standing reviewer (below). If a post has none, there's nothing to approve: it publishes on its own schedule.
- The Planner's queue (a collection on autopilot, see KB-205) advances itself. A topic moving from "Topics" into "Ready to publish" is the Planner doing its job, not a request for you to click anything. You only need to act when: a post has reviewers and is waiting on one of them (shows under Primitives → Tools → Approvals), or your collection's review posture is set to hold every post for a manual look before it goes out (see Auto-Pen settings, KB-303).
- If you want to read a post before it publishes without blocking it, that's feedback, not an approval: comment on the post or in your Letterstory Slack channel. Only an assigned reviewer's Request changes actually holds publishing.
When in doubt, Primitives → Tools → Approvals is the one place that says what's actually on you: empty means nothing is.
Reviewers on a post
Open the post → Reviews. Add teammates as reviewers; each gets an email and the post shows in their Approvals page. A reviewer can Approve or Request changes with an optional note.
While any reviewer hasn't approved, the Publish panel reads "Publishing is blocked until all reviewers approve. Awaiting: …". When the last approval lands, the badge says Your approval is the last one needed to that person, and publishing opens.
Guest reviewers
A reviewer doesn't have to be a member. From the same panel, invite a guest by email: they get a link to a public review page for this one post, read it, comment, and give a verdict, no account. Revoke their access any time; their comments stay.
Standing reviewers
To have someone (a client contact, say) review every post without inviting them each time, add their email to Client review notifications in the collection's Control Room (Setup → Delivery). The list applies to the whole organization: each person is invited as a guest reviewer on every finished draft, and publishing stays blocked until they approve.
Your Approvals page
Primitives → Tools → Approvals lists every post waiting on you. "You're all caught up" means none. Badges show You requested changes and Your approval is the last one needed. Act on each post from the list: Approve, Request changes, or, when yours is the last approval needed, Approve & publish.
Over the API
list_article_reviewers, add_article_reviewer, remove_article_reviewer, list_eligible_reviewers, submit_review, revoke_guest_reviewer, and for standing reviewers list_standing_reviewers, add_standing_reviewer, remove_standing_reviewer. Inviting a guest by email isn't available over the API (it sends real mail); do that in the app.