Workflow States
A workflow state is one label in one workflow. Each of the three workflows — test case, test run, exploration — has its own set, created and managed from Settings → Workflows.
The state list
The panel head shows the workflow’s name and how many states it holds, plus a search box, a refresh button and New state. Four columns and a row menu:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| State | The icon in its colour and the name. The name is a link that opens the state’s editor. The default state also carries a Default chip. |
| Order | The display order number. The list is sorted by it, lowest first, with the older state first when two share a number. |
| Projects | All when the state applies everywhere, otherwise the number of projects it is assigned to. A state assigned to none reads None, and hovering it explains why that matters: “Not assigned to any project, so it appears nowhere.” |
| Status | Enabled or Disabled. Disabled rows are dimmed. While a change is saving the cell reads Saving instead. |
There is no sort control and no drag handle. The order you see is the display order, and the way to change it is to change that number on the state.
The row menu
Every action for a state lives in the ··· menu at the end of its row. There are no toggles in the row itself.
- Edit state… — opens the same editor the name links to.
- Set as default — promotes this state, behind a confirmation. See The default state.
- Enable state / Disable state — flips availability in one click.
- Delete state… — below a divider, behind a confirmation.
An action that cannot be taken is greyed out with the reason attached rather than offered and refused afterwards. The reasons you will see:
| Action | Reason | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Set as default | Already the default | It is already the default. |
| Set as default | The default state must apply to all projects | A default state has to apply to every project. Widen its scope first — see Project Assignment. |
| Disable state | The default state cannot be disabled | The default has to stay usable. Promote another state first. |
| Delete state… | The default state cannot be deleted | The default has to stay usable. Promote another state first. |
| Disable state, Delete state… | An automation rule moves records to this state | An automation rule on this page points at this state. Point the rule elsewhere first. This applies to the test run and exploration workflows, and it applies whether the rule is switched on or off. |
Searching
The search box filters by state name as you type — and by icon name too, so typing flag finds the states drawn with a flag. No match gives “No states match …”, Try a different name or icon. and a Clear search button. Switching tabs clears the search.
The state editor
Creating or editing a state opens a full page with its own address, not a dialog — so it can be linked to, opened in a new tab, and reloaded. The breadcrumb above it names the workflow you came from. Two panels:
Identity
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Icon and colour | Both required. Picked together, and previewed beside the name as the state will actually appear. |
| Name | Required, up to 100 characters, and unique within that workflow. A clash is caught before you save: “A state with this name already exists in this workflow”, with the save button disabled and carrying the same reason. |
| Display order | A number. The hint reads “Lower numbers appear first in lists.” A new state is pre-filled with one past the highest number already in use. Duplicates are allowed but warned about — the hint becomes “Another state already uses this number — they will sort unpredictably.” |
| Enabled | A switch. “Disabled states keep their history but cannot be chosen.” On the default state it is locked on, with the reason “The default state cannot be disabled”. |
| Default state | Shown, not editable — a Default chip when this state holds it, otherwise the name of the state that does. Promotion happens from the list. On a new state the row is absent. |
Projects
Whether the state applies to all projects or a chosen set. See Project Assignment.
The save bar appears once something changes, names the state, and disables the save button with the reason whenever the form is incomplete — a missing name, a clashing name, a missing display order, or specific-projects mode with nothing chosen. Leaving with unsaved changes asks first.
A link to a state that no longer exists — or one carrying an unrecognised workflow — answers “That workflow state does not exist”, “It may have been deleted, or the link may be wrong.”, with a button back to the list.
The default state
Every workflow has exactly one default, and it is the state new items start in. There is no way to clear it; the only way to change it is to promote a different state, which demotes the incumbent in the same action.
Set as default asks first, and the confirmation names what is about to change:
Make “In progress” the default?
New runs will start in this state, and Not started will stop being the default.
The default state cannot be disabled or deleted while it holds the flag.
If the state you are promoting is currently disabled, the last line says so instead — “… is currently disabled and will be enabled first — the default state has to be usable.” — and the promotion enables it as part of the same action.
Three things follow from holding the flag, and all three appear as greyed-out menu items rather than errors: the default cannot be disabled, it cannot be deleted, and it must apply to all projects (which is why a project-scoped state cannot be promoted at all).
Enabling and disabling
Disabling takes a state out of every picker without touching anything already in it: existing cases, runs and explorations keep the state and keep showing it. Enabling puts it back. Both are one click from the row menu, both show a toast, and both offer Undo.
Deleting a state
Delete asks first, and the dialog states the consequence in full:
Delete “Payments QA”?
The state is removed from this workflow.
Any case currently in this state is reassigned to “Draft”. This cannot be undone. Disabling instead stops the state being chosen while leaving existing items where they are.
The dialog names the workflow’s actual default rather than saying “the default”, and the noun matches the workflow — case, run or exploration. Nothing is lost apart from the state itself: the items move to the default and keep all their other data.
There is no Undo on a delete, and no way to restore a deleted state. Re-creating a state with the same name produces a new one, and the items that were reassigned stay where they were moved to. Enable, disable and promote all offer Undo; delete does not.