# Work item statuses

A **work item** carries a single status describing where it is in its lifecycle. This page defines the eight item statuses, what each means, their known transitions, and where you see them. These are distinct from [workflow run statuses](./workflow-run-statuses.md) — an item status describes a unit of work, not a flow execution.

The status values come from the released API contract (`ItemStatus`) and appear in the Items list in the platform. See [Items](/api/items) for the API and [Item status reporting](../monitor-review/item-status-reporting.md) for the UI.

## The eight item statuses

| Status (`ItemStatus`) | UI label | Terminal? | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `QUEUED` | Queued | No | Accepted and waiting to start processing. |
| `IN_PROGRESS` | In Progress | No | Being processed by a flow's nodes. |
| `DEFERRED` | Deferred | No | Set aside to be picked up later. |
| `REVIEW` | Review | No | Paused and waiting for a person, having been sent to human review. |
| `COMPLETE` | Complete | Yes | Finished its flow successfully and reached the terminal state. |
| `CLOSED` | Closed | Yes | Ended without continuing through the normal completion path. |
| `FAILED` | Failed | Yes | Stopped on an error before completing. |
| `CANCELED` | Canceled | Yes | Canceled and no longer being processed. |

In the UI these appear in plain title case (for example, **In Progress**, **Review**). Note the spelling: the item status is `CANCELED` (single "L"), distinct from the run status `CANCELLED` (double "L") in [Workflow run statuses](./workflow-run-statuses.md).

## Known transitions

An item generally moves forward through processing, with review as a pause-and-resume:

```text
QUEUED ──▶ IN_PROGRESS ──▶ REVIEW ──▶ IN_PROGRESS ──▶ COMPLETE
              │                                  └────▶ FAILED
              └──▶ DEFERRED ──▶ IN_PROGRESS
```

- An item is created in `QUEUED`, then `IN_PROGRESS` as the flow processes it.
- A **Flag for Human Review** node routes the item to `REVIEW`. Submitting the review returns the item to the flow, which resumes processing.
- **Marking an item complete** (the Mark Item as Complete action) sets it to the terminal `COMPLETE` status.
- An item that errors becomes `FAILED`. Items can also end as `CLOSED` (off the normal completion path) or `CANCELED`.
- `DEFERRED` is a non-terminal hold: an item set aside that can be picked up again later.

Terminal statuses (`COMPLETE`, `CLOSED`, `FAILED`, `CANCELED`) are fixed once reached; the others are non-terminal.

## Where you can see item statuses

- **Items list** — each item shows a **Status** badge, and you can filter the list by one or more statuses. See [Human review](../monitor-review/human-review.md).
- **Status cards** — a count summary above the list. See below, and [Item status reporting reference](./item-statuses.md).
- **API** — the `status` field on `ItemResponse`, and the `status` filter on `GET /items` (which accepts one or more values, e.g. `status=REVIEW&status=FAILED`). See [Items](/api/items).

## How items relate to the four reporting cards

Do not confuse the eight item statuses with the **status cards** shown above the Items list. The cards are a **data-driven count summary**, not a separate or reduced status set:

- The cards lead with the four most common lifecycle states — **In Progress, Review, Complete, Failed** — which carry distinct badge colors.
- But a card is shown for **each status that currently has at least one item**, so **Queued**, **Deferred**, and **Closed** cards can also appear. **Canceled** items are never shown as a card.
- The cards are counts only — point-in-time totals for the current AI Agent and filters, with no trends, throughput, or straight-through rates.

The full eight-status set is exposed through the API; the cards summarize counts of those same statuses. There is no 1:1 "four statuses" model — the four are simply the most frequently seen cards. See [Item status reporting reference](./item-statuses.md).

## Where to go next

- [Items](/api/items) — the API resource, where `status` is returned and filtered.
- [Item status reporting reference](./item-statuses.md) — the reporting cards and what they summarize.
- [Human review](../monitor-review/human-review.md) — work items in the `REVIEW` status.
- [Workflow run statuses](./workflow-run-statuses.md) — the separate five-status vocabulary for runs.