Life of an agent run — states

four final states, three live; a run leaves the in-flight list only by closing, never by being filtered

Life of an agent run — states four final states, three live; a run leaves the in-flight list only by closing, never by being filtered 01 / Run lifecycle 02 / Live, not terminal 03 / Final states Created · id claimed — usable once · Run lifecycle · entry 01 Created id claimed — usable once entry Running · each step is a new row · Run lifecycle · live 02 Running each step is a new row live Succeeded · closed, it worked · Run lifecycle · final 03 Succeeded closed, it worked final AwaitingApproval · held for a human · Live, not terminal · live AwaitingApproval held for a human live Stalled · still executing, not a failure · Live, not terminal · live Stalled still executing, not a failure live Cancelled · nothing broke · Final states · final Cancelled nothing broke final TimedOut · closed, ran out of time · Final states · final TimedOut closed, ran out of time final Failed · recoverable ending · Final states · final Failed recoverable ending final a step / tool call / decision — each a new row, never edited it needs a human approved we stopped waiting for the answer the real ending arrived the real ending arrived someone paused the agent the sweeper guessed — the real ending reopens it Legend start active state waiting terminal success failure / exit neutral

Three live states

  • • Created claims an id, usable once, then hands off to Running
  • • Running logs each step, tool call, and decision as a new row, never edited
  • • AwaitingApproval and Stalled pause the run without ending it

Four final states

  • • Succeeded, Failed, TimedOut, and Cancelled are the only exits
  • • A run leaves the in-flight list only by closing, never by being filtered
  • • Failed is recoverable: the sweeper guessed, and the real ending reopens it

The labels refuse to lie

  • • Stalled = NOT a failure, the run is still executing
  • • Cancelled = nothing broke; calling it failed would lie to the only person who looks

Lifecycle diagram • Built with Archify • Create yours ↗ • Hover to trace • R route • Click to focus • +/− zoom • M radar • [/] views • P play story • T theme • E export