> ## 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.

# Signal Lifecycle

> How a signal moves from raised to closed, and what each state means.

Every signal is in exactly one of four states.

| State          | What it means                                          |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Open**       | Raised and not yet resolved. This is your working list |
| **Done**       | Acted on. The thing it flagged was addressed           |
| **Dismissed**  | Not relevant, not accurate, or not worth acting on     |
| **Superseded** | Replaced by a newer signal about the same thing        |

## Superseded

Superseded is the one worth understanding, because it is automatic.

Signals are re-detected as new evidence arrives. When a fresh detection covers the same ground as an existing open signal, the old one is marked superseded and the new one takes its place. That is what stops your list filling with six versions of "usage is declining" from six consecutive weeks.

<Note>
  A superseded signal is not gone. It stays on the account as history, which is how you can see that a problem has been live for four months rather than raised this morning.
</Note>

## Done versus dismissed

The distinction matters for your future self.

* **Done** means the signal was right and you handled it. You had the call, delivered the thing, fixed the blocker.
* **Dismissed** means it should not have been raised, or does not apply here. Wrong company matched, known and accepted, not a real risk in this context.

Dismissing what you actually acted on loses the record that you acted. Marking done what was never real inflates your own hit rate. Neither costs much on one signal, and both cost a lot across a quarter.

## Who moves a signal

Transitions are recorded with their source:

* **UI** -- a person changed it in the product
* **Agent** -- Superhawk changed it, typically a supersession
* **System** -- an automatic transition

## Related

* [Signals](/signals/overview)
* [Evidence](/signals/evidence)