States

States define the meaningful stages an instance can occupy during its lifecycle. They should describe the business condition of the instance, not the button the user clicks.

For example, use In Review as a state and Submit for Review as the promote action that moves the instance into that state.

Examples

Process	Example states
Review and approval	Draft, In Review, Approved, Rejected
Work execution	Planned, In Progress, Blocked, Completed
Document control	Draft, Published, Archived
Exception handling	Open, Under Investigation, Resolved, Closed

Guidance

• Use clear state names that describe the record's status.
• Mark one state as the starting state for new instances.
• Keep terminal states, such as Completed or Archived, restrictive unless records must remain editable.
• Keep state names stable after records are in use.

Query definitions, widgets, reports, notifications, and programs can depend on lifecycle state names. Review those dependencies before renaming a state.