Approvals Guide¶

The Prism approvals system lets institutions require PI (Principal Investigator) or administrator sign-off before certain resources are launched. This prevents runaway costs and enforces institutional policies on high-cost workloads.

Overview¶

When an approval policy is in place, certain launch requests — instead of launching immediately — create an approval request that must be reviewed by an authorized approver. The researcher is notified when the request is approved or denied.

Common use cases: - Large instance types (GPU instances, memory-optimized) - Launches over a cost threshold - Emergency budget requests - Cross-project resource sharing

For Researchers: Requesting Approval¶

Requesting approval at launch¶

Instead of launching immediately, create an approval request:

prism workspace launch deep-learning gpu-project --request-approval

You'll receive a confirmation with the request ID. The request is visible in the GUI under Approvals.

Launching with a pre-approved request¶

Once an approver approves your request, launch using the approval ID:

prism workspace launch deep-learning gpu-project --approval-id <id>

This bypasses the approval check since pre-approval was granted.

Checking request status¶

prism approvals list --status pending     # Your pending requests
prism approvals list --status approved    # Approved requests

In the GUI, Approvals in the sidebar shows all your requests with status.

For Approvers: Reviewing Requests¶

Via GUI¶

Navigate to Approvals in the sidebar. The dashboard shows: - Pending requests (badge count on sidebar item) - Request details: requester, template, instance type, estimated cost, justification - Approve / Deny buttons with optional notes

Via CLI¶

# List pending requests
prism approvals list --status pending

# Approve a request
prism approvals approve <request-id> --note "Approved for paper deadline"

# Deny a request
prism approvals deny <request-id> --note "Please use a smaller instance type first"

Approval Request Details¶

Each approval request includes:

Field	Description
Requester	User who made the request
Template	Workspace template requested
Instance type	Requested instance size/type
Estimated cost	Projected hourly and daily cost
Project	Associated project (if any)
Justification	Optional note from requester
Created	Timestamp
Expiry	When the approval expires if unused

Filtering the Approvals View¶

In the GUI, filter by status using the dropdown:

Filter	Shows
Pending	Awaiting review
Approved	Approved (may be launched)
Denied	Denied requests
All	Complete history

Via CLI:

prism approvals list --status all
prism approvals list --project <project-id>

Admin: Configuring Approval Policies¶

Approval thresholds are configured by administrators via the Governance panel in the GUI (Settings → Policy Framework) or the admin CLI.

Common policy configurations: - Require approval for instances larger than L size - Require approval for estimated cost > $X/day - Require approval for GPU instances - Require approval for instances outside the default region

Contact your Prism administrator to configure approval policies for your institution.

CLI Reference¶

prism approvals list                              # List your requests
prism approvals list --status pending             # Filter by status
prism approvals approve <id>                      # Approve a request (admin)
prism approvals approve <id> --note "..."         # Approve with note
prism approvals deny <id> --note "..."            # Deny with note

# At launch:
prism workspace launch <template> <name> --request-approval
prism workspace launch <template> <name> --approval-id <id>