---
updatedAt: 2026-09-29T08:51:30.000Z
agentTools:
projectIndex: https://docs.sumsub.com/llms.txt
---
# Approve applicant action
# Overview
Use this method to approve an [applicant action](https://docs.sumsub.com/sumsub/docs/applicant-actions).
In effect, the action status is updated in the Dashboard to **Approved**, and the API response reflects the following state changes:
* `reviewStatus: "completed"`
* `reviewResult.reviewAnswer: "GREEN"`
You can optionally attach a moderation note and/or tags to the decision.
### Warning
This endpoint can temporarily reject the status change with a `409 Conflict` error, a message asking to retry, and a header indicating the time after which you can retry — for example, `Retry-After: 10` (seconds). This can happen when an action is set to `pending` and then almost immediately moved to a final status via the API (for example, `approved` right after `pending`) — the request may arrive while internal processing is still running.
To handle this:
- Retry `409` responses instead of treating them as permanent failures. If the response includes a `Retry-After` header, wait for the interval it specifies; otherwise, fall back to a short fixed delay (for example, 10–15 seconds).
- Avoid calling `approve`/`reject` immediately after moving an action to `pending` — wait for processing to finish, or be ready to retry on conflict.
### Attention
Notes and tags are optional, but if omitted, you must include an empty request body `-d '{}'`; otherwise, a `400` [error](#error-examples) is returned. See the [request examples](#request-examples) for details.
# Required permissions
To use this method, your [app token](https://docs.sumsub.com/sumsub/docs/app-tokens) must have the **Change applicant's personal data** [permission](https://docs.sumsub.com/sumsub/docs/user-roles#permissions).
# Request examples
```curl All BODY parameters provided
// This example demonstrates how to send a request with all parameters provided.
curl -X POST \
'https://api.sumsub.com/resources/api/applicantActions/663b388x3f882642c48f00000/-/approve' \
-H 'content-type: application/json' \
-H 'X-App-Token: ' \
-H 'X-App-Access-Sig: ' \
-H 'X-App-Access-Ts: ' \
-d '{
"note": "Example note",
"tags": [
"first-tag",
"second-tag"
]
}'
```
```curl No BODY parameters provided
// This example demonstrates how to send a request without body parameters.
curl -X POST \
'https://api.sumsub.com/resources/api/applicantActions/663b388x3f882642c48f00000/-/approve' \
-H 'content-type: application/json' \
-H 'X-App-Token: ' \
-H 'X-App-Access-Sig: ' \
-H 'X-App-Access-Ts: ' \
-d '{}'
```
# Response explained
If the request is sent and processed successfully, you will receive a JSON response representing the applicant action with augmented and structured information.
You can see the response structure, possible content with descriptions, and examples of response on the [following page](https://docs.sumsub.com/sumsub/reference/get-action-information).
# Response examples
If the request is successfully sent and processed, you will get a response like the following:
```json
{
"id": "action_id",
"createdAt": "2026-05-11 16:15:26",
"clientId": "your_client_id",
"externalActionId": "external_action_id",
"applicantId": "6a9ac64ef47e9fe555500000",
"type": "paymentMethod",
"review": {
"reviewId": "ACHhX",
"attemptId": "RKmOR",
"attemptCnt": 7,
"elapsedSincePendingMs": 62659111,
"elapsedSinceQueuedMs": 62659111,
"levelName": "level-name",
"createDate": "2026-05-11 16:16:07+0000",
"reviewResult": {
"reviewAnswer": "GREEN"
},
"reviewStatus": "completed"
},
"checks": [
{
"answer": "GREEN",
"checkType": "FACE_LIVELINESS",
"createdAt": "2026-05-11 16:16:05",
"id": "c7ec345c-2b1b-4a102-92c7-2948f6bb036x",
"livenessInfo": {
"livenessData": {
"sessionId": "6a02100aea08c370e306885fb",
"images": [
{
"imageId": 6421667767
},
{
"imageId": 5161501155
},
{
"imageId": 1851233152
},
{
"imageId": 13710045736
}
]
},
"livenessResult": {
"answer": "GREEN"
}
},
"imageIds": [
3681236159
]
},
{
"answer": "GREEN",
"checkType": "AUTO_CHECK",
"createdAt": "2026-05-11 16:16:07",
"id": "daa654de-a264-4dvcb-b3ec-b32f02a896f0",
"attemptId": "jQzQz"
}
],
"requiredIdDocs": {
"docSets": [
{
"idDocSetType": "SELFIE",
"types": [
"SELFIE"
],
"videoRequired": "passiveLiveness",
"selfieProcessingSettings": {
"skipFaceMatchCheck": true
}
}
]
},
"agreement": {
"items": [
{
"id": "b5bx0a281-6a2a-42198-b13d-c5b12f5739c8",
"acceptedAt": "2026-05-11 16:15:34",
"source": "WebSDK"
}
],
"createdAt": "2026-05-11 16:15:34",
"acceptedAt": "2026-05-11 16:15:34",
"source": "WebSDK"
},
"images": [
{
"id": "6a0200c5a0c8cv370e30688616",
"addedDate": "2026-05-11 16:16:05",
"imageHash": "57176e6a8bb8077v926d61cd5ef12cv0da0617a4b57",
"imageFileName": "liveness_selfie.jpg",
"resizedImageId": 32018776771,
"mimeType": "jpeg",
"imageId": 36821736159,
"actualResolution": {
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080
},
"answer": "YELLOW",
"comments": null,
"idDocDef": {
"country": "ATA",
"idDocType": "SELFIE"
}
}
],
"applicantType": "individual",
"tags": [
"test",
"high-risk"
],
"reviewResult": {
"reviewAnswer": "GREEN"
}
}
```
If the request fails, you will receive an HTTP response containing an error code along with a message explaining the error. For example:
```json
{
"code": 400,
"description": "Human-readable description",
"correlationId": "0d3457fdac54803edf23c90000000000"
}
```
# OpenAPI definition
```json
{
"openapi": "3.1.0",
"info": {
"title": "sumsub-api",
"version": "1.0"
},
"servers": [
{
"url": "https://api.sumsub.com"
}
],
"components": {
"securitySchemes": {
"sec0": {
"type": "apiKey",
"name": "X-App-Token",
"in": "header",
"x-default": ""
}
}
},
"security": [
{
"sec0": []
}
],
"paths": {
"/resources/api/applicantActions/{actionId}/-/approve": {
"post": {
"description": "",
"responses": {
"200": {
"description": ""
}
},
"parameters": [
{
"in": "path",
"name": "actionId",
"schema": {
"type": "string"
},
"required": true,
"description": "Unique applicant action identifier in the Sumsub system.
You can get this identifier in response to [action submission](https://docs.sumsub.com/sumsub/reference/create-applicant-action) or by calling [this method](https://docs.sumsub.com/sumsub/reference/get-applicant-actions)."
}
],
"operationId": "post_resources-api-applicantactions-actionid-approve",
"requestBody": {
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"note": {
"type": "string",
"description": "Optional note text providing additional context for the applicant action."
},
"tags": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "[Custom tags](https://cockpit.sumsub.com/checkus/sdkIntegrations/globalSettings/general/tags) that you may want to assign to the applicant action. Each string represents a standalone tag.
⚠️ Tag names are case sensitive."
},
"RAW_BODY": {
"type": "string",
"format": "json",
"enum": [
"{}"
],
"description": "⚠️ If both `note` and `tags` are omitted, you must include an empty request body (`-d '{}'`); otherwise, a `400` [error](#error-examples) is returned."
}
}
}
}
}
},
"summary": "Approve applicant action"
}
}
},
"x-readme": {
"headers": [],
"explorer-enabled": true,
"proxy-enabled": true
},
"x-readme-fauxas": true
}
```