## 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

```text
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