Power Platform Community Forum Thread Details

Hi everyone,

I have built a 2 stage approval flow using
Microsoft Forms and Power Automate. The flow
works end to end however I am having an issue
with the Stage 2 condition routing to the
wrong email.

MY FLOW STRUCTURE:
1. Trigger: When a new response is submitted
(Microsoft Forms)
2. Get response details
3. Compose (to format email body cleanly)
4. Start and wait for an approval (Stage 1)
5. Condition (Stage 1 Outcome = Approve)
- TRUE: Start and wait for an approval 1
(Stage 2)
- FALSE: Send rejection email to submitter

Inside TRUE branch after Stage 2 approval:
6. Condition 1 (Stage 2 Outcome = Approve)
- TRUE: Send approval confirmation email
- FALSE: Send rejection email to submitter

THE PROBLEM:
When Stage 1 approves and Stage 2 rejects,
the submitter receives the fully approved
confirmation email instead of the rejection
email.

WHAT I HAVE TRIED:
1. Checking the condition reads Outcome =
Approve
2. Checking the True and False branches have
the correct emails in them
3. Using the expression:
outputs('Start_and_wait_for_an_approval_1')
?['body/outcome']
to reference Stage 2 outcome specifically
4. However when I try to use this expression
I receive the following error:
"The inputs of template action Condition
cannot reference action
Start_and_wait_for_an_approval_1. Action
Start_and_wait_for_an_approval_1 must be
in the same scope"

QUESTIONS:
1. How do I correctly reference the Stage 2
approval outcome in my condition without
getting the scope error?
2. Does the Stage 2 condition need to be
nested inside the True branch in a
specific way?
3. Is there a better way to structure a 2
stage approval flow to avoid this scope
issue?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

Categories:

Building flows

@CU04052157-0

Can you share with us the flow design?

The issue is caused by the scope + wrong reference to Stage 2 outcome, which makes the flow default to the “approved” path.

Keep Stage 2 approval inside Stage 1 YES branch only
In Stage 2 condition, use dynamic content “Outcome” (don’t use outputs() manually)
Structure must be:

Stage 1 Approve → Stage 2 Approve → correct condition → send emails

Vishnu WR

LinkedIn - My Tech Space

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