Airbase: approval chain broken" error

TL;DR

An approval step points at someone who can no longer approve: a deactivated user, a removed role, or an empty manager field. An Airbase admin must open the approval policy, replace the invalid step, and re-trigger the request.

Error

Airbase: approval chain broken

Steps

1. Open the affected request and view its approval path. Expected: the broken step is marked, usually naming a missing or inactive approver.
2. Ask your Airbase admin to open the approval policy covering that request type. Expected: the admin sees the same invalid step.
3. The admin replaces the invalid approver: assign the person's manager, a delegate, or a role that is currently filled. Expected: every step resolves to an active user.
4. Re-trigger or resubmit the request so it flows through the repaired chain. Expected: the request reaches the first valid approver.
5. After employee departures, audit approval policies for steps pointing at the departed user. Expected: no policy references inactive users.

When to use

• Airbase reports a broken or invalid approval chain.
• Requests stall at a step naming someone who left or was deactivated.

When not to use

• The approver is on leave but active (set a delegate instead).
• The request was rejected on its merits (address the rejection).

Tool compatibility

• Airbase spend management; approval policies edited by Airbase admins.

Variant phrasings

Approval chain invalid

Same break, alternate wording.

Approver not found in chain

The step-level phrasing of the same problem.

Why it happens

Approval chains resolve to specific users at request time. Turnover and role changes invalidate stored steps, and Airbase refuses to route rather than guessing a replacement.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_j3L6uifX1degkXQs237FRw