Concepts: workflows and states

A workflow defines a process such as Invoice Approval. A state represents the current stage of an execution:

draft → manager_review → finance_review → approved
                                    ↘ rejected

Workflow

• Has a stable machine-readable name.
• Defines an initial state.
• Lists all states and transitions.

State

• Uses stable identifiers (manager_review), never display labels.
• May carry a human-readable label such as "Manager Review".
• May be terminal (completed states) such as approved / rejected.

Workflow execution

A workflow runs against a specific business object (an Invoice, a PurchaseOrder, a LeaveRequest), tracking its current state.

See States and Transitions for the details implemented per phase.