Every team I've seen handles approvals the same broken way. Someone sends a DM asking for approval, the approver forgets or gets busy, the requester is too scared to follow up, and days pass while the project is blocked. No paper trail, no deadline, no system.
So I built TeamAutomation — a Slack-native approval tool. Here's exactly how.
The Architecture
Three core pieces: Next.js 14 for the app and API routes, Supabase for storing approval requests and audit trail, and Inngest for scheduling smart nudges at 24hrs, 3 days, and 7 days.
The Slack Button Payload
When someone runs /approve, my API creates an approval request in Supabase, then sends an interactive Slack message with Approve/Reject buttons. Slack sends the interaction back to my Next.js API route, I update the record, and done — full audit trail automatically.
The Hardest Part
Scheduling nudges reliably. Cron jobs fail silently. Inngest solved this completely — I define the function once, it handles retries, delays, and failure recovery automatically. Game changer for this use case.
What I Learned
Build the reminder system before you build the dashboard. Users don't care about pretty UI — they care that approvals actually get resolved. The nudge system is the whole product.
Try It
Still in early beta. 14-day free trial, no credit card. If you're dealing with approval chaos in your team, drop a comment — happy to give you early access.