When you configure an automation with Approval Required, Hybrid Manager (HM) doesn't run the operation immediately. Instead, it creates a pending task and waits for a team member to review it. Task Manager is where that review happens — it gives you a centralized view of all pending, running, and completed automation tasks across your project, so you can stay in control of what runs and when. You can also manage tasks programmatically using the HM API, which lets you integrate the approval flow with third-party tools and workflows.
Accessing Task Manager
Task Manager is available at two levels:
Project level — Within a project, in the left navigation, select Task Manager. This view shows all pending, running, failed, and completed tasks across every cluster in the project.
Cluster level — Within a project, in the left navigation, select Clusters > Postgres Clusters, then select a cluster. In the cluster view, select the Task Manager tab. This view shows only the tasks for that specific cluster.
Reading the task list
Each row in the task list represents a single automation task. The following columns appear by default:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Task Name | The name of the automation task. Select the name to open the task detail sidebar. |
| Status | The current state of the task. See Understanding task status. |
| Created | When the task was created. |
| Duration | How long the task took to execute. Displays a dash (-) for tasks that haven't run yet. |
| Source | The automation rule that triggered the task. |
| Target | The cluster targeted by the task. Task Manager hides this column when you view it from within a specific cluster. |
You can customize which columns you display using the settings icon at the top of the task list. Priority is an optional column that doesn't appear by default.
Understanding task status
Each task moves through a lifecycle that you can track in the Status column:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
Pending | The task is waiting — either for approval (if the automation requires approval) or for its maintenance window to open. |
Gate Satisfied | All conditions are met. The task executes when its maintenance window opens, or immediately if you didn't configure a window. |
Running | The task is currently executing. |
Completed | The task finished successfully. |
Failed | The task couldn't run or encountered an error. When a specific failure reason is available, the status badge shows an error code instead of Failed. See Failure error codes. |
Cancelled | A user or process canceled the task before it ran. |
Failure error codes
When a task fails, the status badge shows a specific error code to indicate why:
| Error code | Meaning |
|---|---|
MaintenanceWindowFailed | The maintenance window closed before the task could run. If the automation's cooldown period has passed, HM recreates the task on the next evaluation cycle. |
ApprovalFailed | A user rejected the task, or the approval timeout expired before anyone approved it. If the automation's cooldown period has passed, HM recreates the task on the next evaluation cycle. |
ExecutionError | The task started but encountered an error during execution. Check the task detail sidebar for the error message. |
Timeout | The task exceeded the maximum allowed execution time. |
Approving or rejecting a task
When a task is in Pending status and requires your approval:
- Select the task name or its status badge to open the task detail sidebar.
- Review the task details — including the automation type, target cluster or data group, and the approval description that the automation owner configured.
- Select Approve to allow the task to proceed, or Deny to reject it.
- If you configured the automation with Require Reason, add an explanation in the Reason field before confirming your decision.
After approval, the task moves to Running if you didn't configure a maintenance window, or to Gate Satisfied if a maintenance window exists. After rejection, HM closes the task. If the automation's cooldown period has passed, HM recreates the task on the next evaluation cycle.
Note
To approve a task, you need the same permissions required to perform the underlying operation on the cluster. For example, approving an automatic image upgrade requires the same permissions as performing a manual upgrade. HM's RBAC system enforces this.
Notifications for pending approval tasks
When an automation task transitions to Pending status and requires approval, HM sends a notification through any channels you've configured at the project or organization level.
- In-app — A notification appears in the bell icon menu in the top-right corner of the HM console. The notification reflects the task's status change and indicates that a system action requires attention. Select the bell icon to view it, then navigate to Task Manager to review and approve the task.
- External channels — If you've configured email, Pager Duty, or a webhook, HM sends a notification with additional context about the pending task through those channels. Navigate to Task Manager to approve or reject the task.
In both cases, approval must be completed in Task Manager — the notification itself doesn't include a direct approval action.
Monitoring task history
Task Manager retains a history of all completed, failed, and canceled tasks. Use it to audit what ran, when, and with what outcome.
To narrow down the list, use the available filters:
- Status — Filter by one or more task phases (for example, show only
PendingorFailedtasks). - Date range — Limit results to a specific time window. Preset ranges of 7, 15, 30, and 90 days are available, or set a custom range.
- Search — Find tasks by name.
Select any task to open its detail sidebar. The Activity Log also records all task activity and provides an org- or project-wide audit trail across all resource types, not just tasks.