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Approve or reject time-off requests

Applies to: Dynamics 365 Customer Service

Note

  • The tools and examples in this documentation illustrate current capabilities. Tool names, descriptions, parameters, response formats, and available functionality can change over time.
  • When you build agents, integrations, or orchestration logic, don't hard-code dependencies on specific tool names, parameter structures, tool metadata, or response schemas. Instead, design your solution to discover and use available tools at runtime.
  • As the platform evolves, Microsoft might add, remove, rename, or modify tools and tool metadata. Designing against capabilities rather than specific tool identifiers helps maintain compatibility across service updates.

Use this capability when you're a supervisor deciding a pending Workforce Engagement Management (WEM) time-off request and want to approve or reject it directly in chat.

What it does

The assistant updates a single WEM time-off request to approved or rejected and records you as the reviewer. You identify the request by its exact name, by the agent who submitted it plus the date, or by its record ID. When you reject a request, you provide a short reason that's saved as the reviewer note.

The assistant only acts on time-off requests—it refuses shift-bid and shift-swap records. It never overwrites a decision another reviewer already made, and if your reference matches more than one pending request, it lists the matches and asks you to be more specific instead of guessing.

Try prompts like

  • Approve agent1's time off on 2027-01-01.
  • Reject the 'Time off on 1/1/2027' request—reason: insufficient coverage.
  • Approve this pending time-off request.
  • Reject Alex's time off next Friday because the team is short-staffed.

What you'll see in chat

The assistant confirms the decision with a text response—for example, that the request was approved or rejected and that you were recorded as the reviewer. No interactive component is displayed.

Helpful tips

  • A rejection reason is required to reject a request. The assistant asks for one if you don't provide it.
  • The easiest way to pick the right request is to name the agent and the date, or use the exact request name.
  • Use "show my pending time-off approvals" first (through the WEM request list) to see what's waiting on you.
  • This tool decides time-off requests only. For shift-bid or shift-swap requests, use the request list and detail views to review them.

Tip

The rejection reason becomes the reviewer note on the request. Use it to explain the decision so the agent understands why.

What happens next

After the decision is recorded, you can continue with prompts like:

  • Show my remaining pending time-off approvals.
  • Approve the next one.
  • List this week's time-off requests.

Does this change data?

Yes, this changes data.

The time-off request's status is updated to approved or rejected in Dynamics 365, and you are recorded as the reviewer. A rejection also saves your reason as the reviewer note.

Prerequisites

This tool requires the following:

  • Supervisor or reviewer access to Workforce Engagement Management time-off requests.
  • Workforce Engagement Management enabled in the environment.

Tool summary

Property Value
User-facing name Approve or reject time-off requests
Internal tool name decide_wem_time_off_request
Purpose Updates a Workforce Engagement Management time-off request to approved or rejected and records the reviewer

Tool behavior

Updates a single Dataverse msdyn_wemrequest time-off record to approved or rejected. You identify the record by requestId (its GUID), by requestName (its exact name), or by agentName plus date. The tool refuses non-time-off records, enforces optimistic concurrency so it never overwrites another reviewer's decision, and returns candidate matches when a name or agent reference is ambiguous. A rejection requires rejectionReason, which is saved as the reviewer note. This tool is text-only and renders no widget.

Annotations

Annotation Value Meaning
readOnlyHint false This tool modifies data.
destructiveHint false The request is updated, not deleted.
idempotentHint true Re-deciding an already-decided request is rejected rather than applied twice.
openWorldHint Not set Uses default (queries Dataverse).

Input concepts

Request identifier

Provide one of the following ways to identify the request.

Input Description Required
requestId The Dataverse msdyn_wemrequestid (GUID) of the request. The most precise identifier. No*
requestName The exact name of the time-off request, for example, "Time off on 1/1/2027". Used when requestId is omitted. No*
agentName The name of the agent who requested the time off, for example, "agent1". Combine with date to pick one request. No*
date The date of the time off (YYYY-MM-DD or M/D/YYYY), used with agentName to disambiguate. No*

* Provide requestId, or requestName, or agentName with date. If the reference matches more than one pending request, the tool returns the candidates so you can choose.

Decision

Input Description Required
decision Whether to approve or reject the request. Yes
rejectionReason Short reason saved as the reviewer note. Required when decision is reject; ignored when approving. Varies

Response and UI behavior

Response type

Text-only

Returns a text confirmation of the decision. No interactive component is rendered. When a reference is ambiguous, the response lists candidate requests so you can pick one.

Routing notes

Use decide_wem_time_off_request when:

  • A supervisor asks to approve, reject, or decide a pending time-off request.

Don't use decide_wem_time_off_request when:

  • Listing or browsing requests—route to list_wem_requests.
  • Opening a single request to review its details—route to get_wem_request_details.
  • Deciding a shift-bid or shift-swap request—this tool handles time-off requests only.
Tool Relationship
list_wem_requests Lists WEM requests; use it to find pending time-off approvals
get_wem_request_details Opens a single WEM request to review before deciding

Data mutation classification

Write / mutation.

Updates the msdyn_wemrequest time-off record's status to approved or rejected and records the reviewer. A rejection also saves the reviewer note. The tool refuses non-time-off records and won't overwrite a decision already made by another reviewer.