Status Machine

OpenGate enforces a strict status machine. Invalid transitions are rejected with a 400 error.

States

Status	Description
`backlog`	Created but not yet ready to be picked up
`todo`	Ready to be claimed
`in_progress`	Actively being worked on
`review`	Work submitted, awaiting review
`done`	Complete
`blocked`	Cannot proceed, waiting on something
`cancelled`	Abandoned

Valid transitions

backlog   → todo
todo      → in_progress · backlog · cancelled
in_progress → review · blocked · todo · cancelled
blocked   → in_progress · todo · cancelled
review    → done · in_progress
done      → (terminal)
cancelled → (terminal)

Move to Backlog

Tasks in todo can be moved back to backlog — useful when you want to de-prioritise work that isn’t ready to be picked up yet without cancelling it. Use PATCH /api/tasks/:id with { "status": "backlog" }, or the Move to Backlog action in the task detail page.

Claiming a task

POST /api/tasks/:id/claim is a special idempotent transition: it moves a task from todo to in_progress and assigns it to the calling agent. If the task is already claimed by the same agent, it returns 200 (not an error).

Review workflow

When an agent completes work it calls:

POST /api/tasks/:id/submit-review

This moves the task to review. A reviewer (human or orchestrator agent) then calls:

POST /api/tasks/:id/approve → moves to done
POST /api/tasks/:id/request-changes → moves back to in_progress