A lifecycle is a simple path: a set of named states an entry moves through, and the actions that move it from one state to the next. A maintenance request might travel from open, to in progress, to resolved. A lifecycle records where each entry sits along that path and what can happen to it next.
States and actions
A lifecycle is built from two kinds of pieces: states and actions.
States are the named states an entry can be in, such as open, in progress and resolved. Each state has its own name and its own colour, and one state is the starting point where an entry begins.
Actions are the named steps that move an entry between states. From a given state, an action leads to exactly one destination state, and taking that action moves the entry there. The same action can lead to different destinations depending on the state the entry is in, so a lifecycle can branch as well as run in a straight line.
Not every state leads onward. A state with no actions leaving it is an end point: once an entry reaches it, the lifecycle is complete and there is nothing left to do.
An administrator sets up each lifecycle — its states, their colours, and the actions that connect them — before it is used. For how that is done, see Designing a lifecycle.
How an entry gets a lifecycle
An entry does not start with a lifecycle. One is attached automatically, based on what the entry is. When an entry is created that matches a rule your organisation has set up, Pyron attaches the matching lifecycle and places the entry in its starting state. The state badge appears moments after the entry is saved.
An entry carries at most one lifecycle at a time and sits in exactly one state. The lifecycle an entry receives follows from the kind of entry it is and where it is filed, so there is nothing to choose when you create one.
A lifecycle attaches on its own when an entry matches a rule. If an entry does not match any rule, it carries no lifecycle at all — that is expected, not a fault. The rules that decide which lifecycle attaches to which entry are set up as automations; see Attaching a lifecycle automatically for how they are built.
Seeing where things stand
Wherever an entry appears — in the entries table, or on a directory page — an entry with a lifecycle shows a coloured badge naming its current state. The colour comes from the state itself, so you can scan a list and tell apart what is open, what is under way and what is finished without opening anything.
When an entry sits in a state that has actions leading out of it, those actions appear as buttons beside the entry. Choosing one moves the entry to the next state. Some actions first ask you to fill in a short form — a reason or a note, for example — before the move is recorded.
Every state change is kept, so an entry holds a history of how it travelled through its lifecycle: when it changed state, and who moved it. Open an entry to read that history alongside its details.
For the step-by-step of moving an entry through its states, see An entry's status and lifecycle. To learn more about entries in general, see Entries.