Approve or decline Connecteam time off requests with AI

1. Admin approval is a switch in the policy, Time off request requires admin approval. With it off, Connecteam approves requests automatically and deducts them from the balance. The switch needs the HR Basic plan or higher.
2. In the dashboard the admin opens Time Off in the left sidebar and clicks Pending Requests in the upper right.
3. The window lists every request employees submitted within a date range, and the admin approves or declines each one.
4. The gear icon on the Pending Requests tab sets whose requests reach this admin: a smart group they manage, their direct reports, specific users or no one.
5. An approved request lands on the employee's timesheet by itself. A decision can be reversed from the View Request window, History tab, three-dot menu.

Go through pending time off requests. Approve requests of up to 3 days that start at least 14 days from now and do not overlap an approved request. Leave the rest for me with the reason.

1. 01

   Read the pending queue

   list_time_off_requests runs with status pending and follows next_cursor to the end, so a request list that grew over a weekend is judged as one batch. The account must be an admin allowed to act on requests; any other account gets APP_PERMISSION_DENIED and the run stops before anyone is judged.

2. 02

   Apply your rule

   Each request is matched against the rule in your prompt, for example up to 3 days and a start at least 14 days out. The agent quotes the length and start date it relied on.

3. 03

   Check overlaps

   list_time_off_requests with status approved shows who is already off in the same dates. A request that overlaps an approved one is left for you, so the team keeps its cover.

4. 04

   Decide

   decide_time_off_request approves the matches. It declines only when your prompt says so, and everything else stays pending. An approved request lands on the employee's timesheet, and the employee sees the new status in the mobile app. Every call asks for your OK until you switch confirmation off for it.

5. 05

   Skip what changed

   Before deciding, the agent reads the queue again. A request that another admin decided in the meantime is gone from it, so the agent logs it as already handled and leaves it alone.

Pending requests: 6
Approved 3 (e.g. Priya Nair, Vacation, Oct 22 to Oct 23, 2 days)
Left for you 3:
- Marco Bell: 8 days in December, over your 3-day rule
- Jo Kim: starts in 5 days
- Sam Reyes: overlaps Ana Lopez, already approved

curl -X POST https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/connecteam/requests/5528/time-off-request/decide \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"decision":"approve"}'

{
  "request_id": "5528",
  "status": "approved",
  "name": "Priya Nair",
  "policy_type": "Vacation",
  "start_date": "2026-10-22",
  "end_date": "2026-10-23",
  "days": 2
}

MCP: add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 with the same key; the call is connecteam_write → decide_time_off_request. Example data.

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