Emission States

The platform uses an event_status field to track the current state of an emission and how it is being handled by an operator.

Internally, the event_status field is tied to the Event model, which has a 1-to-1 relationship with the detected emission (EmissionRecord model) per operator.

States

Main states

State	Description
NEW	New events, shortly after being matched, but not yet handled by operators. This is the default entry state when workflow automation is disabled.
WORK_IN_PROGRESS	After an event is assigned, it is marked as "In progress".
WAITING_APPROVAL	(conditional) If the approval workflow is enabled, this step signals that a person with reviewer permissions needs to take an action and either approve or reject the work done by the main assignee.
COMPLETED	Signals that all work related to this emission, including investigation and follow-up, is complete. This is an end state.
ARCHIVED	Marks that this emission will not be investigated by the company. Events can only reach this state through automation or a Django Admin action. This is an end state.
REJECTED	When the Site field is marked as empty ("Not related to my infrastructure"), the event is marked as REJECTED so it can be excluded from statistics. This is an end state.
LINKED	Signals that this emission has been linked to another event and is not the main event. When an emission is linked, the contents of the notes and attachments sections are copied over to the main event. This is a terminal state — it cannot be transitioned to any other status.

Additional states

State	Description
CREATED	When workflow automation is enabled, events are created with this state instead of NEW. This allows the workflow engine to process events (including auto-archiving) before they appear in operator queues. The workflow manager transitions events from CREATED to NEW or other states via configured AUTO transitions.

State transitions

The allowed transitions depend on whether the approval workflow is enabled for the company. The approval flow adds a mandatory review step before an event can be completed.

Standard flow (no approval)

In the standard flow, an assignee can move an event directly from NEW or WORK_IN_PROGRESS to COMPLETED without a review step.

WAITING_APPROVAL in the standard flow

The WAITING_APPROVAL state exists in the standard flow but is not reachable through the UI. It can only be set by the workflow automation engine via a configured AUTO or MANUAL transition.

Approval flow

The approval flow is enabled per company by setting approval_flow_enabled: true in the company's permissions field. See Reviewer flow setup for configuration instructions.

Key differences

Aspect	Standard flow	Approval flow
Path to completion	NEW → WORK_IN_PROGRESS → COMPLETED	NEW → WORK_IN_PROGRESS → WAITING_APPROVAL → COMPLETED
Direct completion from WORK_IN_PROGRESS	Yes	No — must go through WAITING_APPROVAL
Rejection from WORK_IN_PROGRESS	Yes	No — rejection happens at the WAITING_APPROVAL stage
WAITING_APPROVAL transitions	Not reachable via UI	Requires emission_event_approve permission

Permissions

Permission	Required for	Scope
emission_event_archive	Transitioning from NEW to ARCHIVED	Standard and approval flow
emission_event_approve	All transitions from WAITING_APPROVAL	Approval flow only

See User management for details on configuring permissions via CSV import.

Terminal and end states

• LINKED is a true terminal state — no transitions out of it are defined in either flow.
• COMPLETED, ARCHIVED, and REJECTED are end states, but they can be reopened back to WORK_IN_PROGRESS if further investigation is needed.

Entry states

The initial state of a new event depends on whether workflow automation is enabled:

Setting	Entry state	Behavior
Workflow automation enabled	CREATED	Events are processed by the workflow manager before appearing in operator queues. The manager evaluates AUTO transitions (e.g. CREATED → NEW) and may auto-archive or auto-link events.
Workflow automation disabled	NEW	Events appear immediately in operator queues after matching.

When workflow automation is enabled, the workflow-automation-enabled waffle switch must be active. See Flags and Switches and Scheduled Jobs for details.

Related documentation

• Workflow Automation — how the workflow engine drives events through their lifecycle
• Workflow Definitions & Transitions — configuring AUTO and MANUAL transitions
• Event Linking — how duplicate events are grouped and marked as LINKED
• Reviewer flow setup — enabling the approval workflow per company
• Matching — how emission data points are connected to operator infrastructure
• Flags and Switches — the workflow-automation-enabled switch