At this time, only API-based configuration is available. UI-based configuration is planned for the near future. See [issue](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/344675).
At this time, it is not possible to require approvals for an existing protected environment. The workaround is to unprotect the environment and configure approvals when re-protecting the environment.
Use the [Protected Environments API](../../api/protected_environments.md#protect-repository-environments) to create an environment with `required_approval_count` > 0. After this is set, all jobs deploying to this environment automatically go into a blocked state and wait for approvals before running.
There are two ways to configure approvals for a protected environment:
1. Using the [UI](protected_environments.md#protecting-environments)
1. Set the **Required approvals** field to 1 or more.
1. Using the [REST API](../../api/protected_environments.md#protect-repository-environments)
2. Set the `required_approval_count` field to 1 or more.
After this is configured, all jobs deploying to this environment automatically go into a blocked state and wait for approvals before running. Ensure that the number of required approvals is less than the number of users allowed to deploy.