Multi-Agent Approval Workflows

Enterprise-grade approval chains for AI agent transactions with cryptographic audit trails.

Overview

Multi-Agent Approval Workflows enable enterprises to implement sophisticated approval chains for AI agent transactions. Unlike traditional reputation systems, approval workflows provide cryptographic proof of authorization through zero-knowledge verification.

Cryptographic Audit Trails

Every approval is cryptographically signed and verifiable

Configurable Timeouts

Set approval deadlines from 1 minute to 24 hours

Multi-Agent Coordination

Chain together budget, compliance, and executive approvals

Enterprise Use Cases

🛒 Procurement Approval Chain

AI procurement agents must get approval from budget, compliance, and management agents before completing purchases.

Flow: Procurement Agent → Budget Agent → Compliance Agent → Manager Agent → Purchase Approved

💰 Financial Transaction Authorization

Trading or payment agents require multi-level approval for transactions above certain thresholds.

Flow: Trading Agent → Risk Agent → Compliance Agent → CFO Agent → Transaction Approved

🔐 Access Control & Permissions

Service agents request elevated permissions through a secure approval workflow.

Flow: Service Agent → Security Agent → Admin Agent → Access Granted

How It Works

Create Approval Workflow

The initiating agent creates a workflow specifying the transaction details, amount, and required approvers with their timeout windows.

Encrypted Notifications Sent

All approvers receive encrypted notifications via Zero Proof's secure messaging system. Messages include workflow details and approval deadlines.

Approvers Review & Decide

Each approver reviews the request and submits their decision (approved/rejected) with an optional reason. Decisions are cryptographically signed.

Automatic Status Transitions

The workflow automatically transitions to "approved" when all approvers approve, or "rejected" if any approver rejects. Timeouts trigger automatic rejection.

Quick Start Example

Create a multi-agent approval workflow with the Zero Proof Python SDK:

from zeroproof import ZeroProof

# Initialize client
client = ZeroProof(api_key="zkp_your_api_key")

# Create approval workflow
workflow = client.create_approval_workflow(
    transaction_id="TXN-2025-001",
    amount=5000.00,
    required_approvers=[
        {
            "agent_id": "budget_agent",
            "timeout_minutes": 30
        },
        {
            "agent_id": "compliance_agent",
            "timeout_minutes": 60
        },
        {
            "agent_id": "cfo_agent",
            "timeout_minutes": 120
        }
    ],
    metadata={
        "vendor": "TechCorp Inc",
        "category": "software_licenses",
        "department": "engineering"
    }
)

print(f"Workflow created: {workflow.workflow_id}")
print(f"Status: {workflow.status}")
print(f"Expires: {workflow.expires_at}")

# Approvers receive encrypted notifications automatically

Real-World Multi-Agent Setup

In production, each agent should have its own API key for security and auditability:

# Each agent has their own API key
procurement_agent = ZeroProof(api_key="zkp_procurement_key")
budget_agent = ZeroProof(api_key="zkp_budget_key")
compliance_agent = ZeroProof(api_key="zkp_compliance_key")

# Procurement agent creates workflow
workflow = procurement_agent.create_approval_workflow(
    transaction_id="TXN-2025-001",
    amount=5000.00,
    required_approvers=[
        {"agent_id": "budget_agent", "timeout_minutes": 30},
        {"agent_id": "compliance_agent", "timeout_minutes": 60}
    ]
)

# Budget agent approves (using their own key)
budget_result = budget_agent.approve_workflow(
    workflow_id=workflow.workflow_id,
    decision="approved",
    reason="Within budget limits"
)

# Compliance agent approves (using their own key)
compliance_result = compliance_agent.approve_workflow(
    workflow_id=workflow.workflow_id,
    decision="approved",
    reason="Compliant with policies"
)

💡 Best Practice: Generate separate API keys for each approving agent through your dashboard. This ensures proper authorization and creates a cryptographic audit trail showing exactly who approved each transaction.

Receiving and Processing Approvals

Approvers receive encrypted notifications when a workflow requires their approval:

# Approver polls for pending workflows (via encrypted messages)
budget_agent = ZeroProof(api_key="zkp_budget_agent_key")

# Process approval
result = budget_agent.approve_workflow(
    workflow_id="wf_abc123...",
    decision="approved",  # or "rejected"
    reason="Within Q1 budget allocation"
)

print(f"Workflow status: {result.status}")
print(f"Approvals: {len(result.approvals)}/{len(result.required_approvers)}")
print(f"Pending: {', '.join(result.pending_approvers)}")

# Check if all approvals received
if result.status == "approved":
    print("✅ All approvals received - proceed with transaction")
elif result.status == "rejected":
    print("❌ Workflow rejected - cannot proceed")
else:
    print("⏳ Waiting for additional approvals")

Monitoring Workflow Status

Query workflow status at any time:

# Get workflow status
status = client.get_workflow_status(workflow_id="wf_abc123...")

print(f"Workflow: {status.workflow_id}")
print(f"Status: {status.status}")
print(f"Transaction: {status.transaction_id}")
print(f"Amount: ${status.amount:,.2f}")
print(f"Progress: {len(status.approvals)}/{len(status.required_approvers)}")

# View approval timeline
for approval in status.approvals:
    print(f"  ✓ {approval.agent_id}: {approval.decision}")
    print(f"    Reason: {approval.reason}")
    print(f"    Time: {approval.timestamp}")

# View pending approvers
for agent_id in status.pending_approvers:
    print(f"  ⏳ {agent_id}: Pending")

Security & Authorization Model

Zero Proof approval workflows use cryptographic authorization rather than traditional role-based access control:

🔐 Cryptographic Authorization

Only agents explicitly listed in `required_approvers` can approve a workflow. Authorization is verified cryptographically through the agent's API key.

Example: If "budget_agent" is listed as a required approver, only the API key associated with that agent ID can approve. Any other agent attempting to approve will receive an authorization error.

📝 Immutable Audit Trail

Every approval is cryptographically signed with the approver's API key, creating a tamper-proof audit trail:

• Who approved: Agent ID cryptographically verified
• When approved: ISO 8601 timestamp
• Why approved: Optional reason field
• What was approved: Full transaction context

🛡️ Zero-Knowledge Verification

Unlike reputation systems that rely on social consensus, Zero Proof provides mathematical proof of authorization. The system can verify an agent's authority to approve without revealing sensitive information about the approval process or business logic.

Key Features

Cryptographic Security

• Tamper-proof audit trails
• Cryptographically signed approvals
• Zero-knowledge proof verification
• End-to-end encrypted notifications

Authorization Control

• Only authorized approvers can approve
• API key validation for each action
• Prevention of duplicate approvals
• Automatic access control checks

Flexible Timeouts

• Configure per-approver timeouts
• Range: 1 minute to 24 hours
• Automatic rejection on timeout
• TTL-based auto-cleanup

Real-time Coordination

• Instant encrypted notifications
• Real-time status tracking
• Progress monitoring for initiator
• Completion notifications

API Methods

create_approval_workflow()POST

Create a new approval workflow with multiple approvers.

Parameters: transaction_id, amount, required_approvers, metadata (optional)

approve_workflow()POST

Approve or reject an approval workflow.

Parameters: workflow_id, decision ("approved" or "rejected"), reason (optional)

get_workflow_status()GET

Query the current status of an approval workflow.

Parameters: workflow_id

Best Practices

• Set realistic timeout windows based on business processes
• Include detailed metadata for audit trail clarity
• Always provide reasons for approval/rejection decisions
• Monitor workflow status regularly for time-sensitive transactions
• Use separate API keys for each approving agent
• Implement retry logic for transient failures

Ready to implement approval workflows?

Get started with the Python SDK or explore the full API reference.

Python SDK API Reference