Statuses
Default statuses for tasks, epics, and cycles, the groups they belong to, and what each one means.
Tasks, epics, and cycles each have a status. Task and epic statuses come from a list your team can customize; cycle status depends on its dates, start and close actions, and the team's auto-close setting.
| Object | Where the list comes from | Customize in |
|---|---|---|
| Task | Team list, starting from the defaults below | Settings → your team → Tasks → Statuses |
| Epic | Team list, starting from the defaults below | Settings → your team → Epics → Epic statuses |
| Cycle | Calculated from dates, start and close actions, and auto-close settings | Settings → your team → Cycles (auto-close and period only) |
Status groups
Every task and epic status belongs to one of four groups. The group, not the name, decides how Alan treats the status, for example which tasks count as started or completed.
| Group | Settings description |
|---|---|
| Not started | "Work that hasn't begun yet" |
| Active | "Work currently being done" |
| Done | "Work that has been completed" |
| Closed | "Work that has been cancelled" |
Task statuses
A new team starts with six task statuses:
| Status | Group | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Backlog | Not started | The work is captured but not planned. Every team must keep this status. |
| Todo | Not started | The work is defined and ready to pick up. |
| In Progress | Active | Someone, or an agent session, is making changes. |
| In Review | Active | There is a pull request, plan, or test report to check. |
| Done | Done | The work has shipped or been accepted. |
| Cancelled | Closed | The work stopped without being completed. |
Creating the first session on a task moves it from a Not started status to the first Active status, usually In Progress. It does not wait for the agent to edit files.
Teams can add statuses to any group, rename and recolor them, and drag to reorder them within a group, so your team's list may differ from this one. See Subtasks and status.
Epic statuses
| Status | Group |
|---|---|
| Backlog (required) | Not started |
| Planned | Not started |
| In Progress | Active |
| Completed | Done |
| Canceled | Closed |
See Epics.
Cycle statuses
Alan calculates cycle status from its dates, whether someone started or closed it, and the team's Auto-close expired cycles setting.
| Shown as | Value | When |
|---|---|---|
| Planned | upcoming | The cycle has not started yet. |
| Active | active | The cycle has started, its end date has not passed, and it has not been closed. |
| Past due | past_due | The end date has passed, and auto-close is off, so the cycle waits for someone to close it. |
| Closed | completed | Someone closed it, or it ended while auto-close is on. |
See Cycles.
Other states
| What | States | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Test report result | pass, fail, or mixed | Testing evidence |
| Invitation | pending, accepted, expired, or revoked | Roles and permissions |
| Session turn | Working, Waiting for input, Worked, Stopped | Session lifecycle |
| Cloud sandbox | Running, paused, stopped, deleted, or failed | Sandboxes |
The session turn label Working describes an agent run, not a task status.
Keep status honest
When changing status yourself, use In Progress for work underway, In Review when there is something to check, and Done when the work is accepted or shipped. Agents can change task status with Alan's task tools, so tell an agent explicitly if you want it to move status for you. Opening, approving, or merging a pull request does not change task status; set In Review and Done yourself.