> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.superhawk.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Task Lifecycle

> The states a task moves through, and which transitions are legal.

Tasks follow a defined lifecycle. Superhawk enforces it, so a task cannot end up in a state its history does not support.

## The states

| State                 | What it means                                         |
| --------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| **Pending**           | Drafted and waiting. The default for a new task       |
| **Awaiting approval** | Submitted for someone to approve before it goes ahead |
| **Approved**          | Approved, not yet started                             |
| **In progress**       | Being worked on                                       |
| **Done**              | Completed                                             |
| **Rejected**          | Reviewed and declined                                 |
| **Cancelled**         | No longer needed                                      |

**Done**, **rejected**, and **cancelled** are terminal. Nothing moves out of them.

## The legal transitions

```
pending           → submit for approval → awaiting approval
awaiting approval → approve             → approved
awaiting approval → reject              → rejected
pending           → start               → in progress
awaiting approval → start               → in progress
approved          → start               → in progress
in progress       → reset               → pending

any open state    → complete            → done
any open state    → cancel              → cancelled
```

The open states are pending, awaiting approval, approved, and in progress. **Complete** and **cancel** are legal from every one of them, so a task never gets stuck because it was not walked through the middle steps.

## Approval

Approval is for work that leaves Superhawk: an email to a customer, a write to your CRM. Submitting for approval puts the task in front of whoever needs to sign off, and it does not proceed until they do.

Not every task needs it. A reminder to check on an account can go straight from pending to in progress to done.

## Who acted

Every transition records whether it came from a **human** or an **agent**, along with who and when. This is what lets you tell a task Superhawk closed automatically from one a colleague handled.

## Comments

Tasks carry comments for the conversation around the work. Mentioning a teammate notifies them -- see [Notifications](/notifications/overview).

## Related

* [Inbox & Tasks](/inbox/overview)
* [Signals](/signals/overview)