> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.openlayer.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Project lifecycle

> Advance a project through Intake, Development, Staging, Production, and Retired

Every project sits in a **lifecycle stage**. Workspace admins and project
access-group admins advance the project from one stage to the next. The advance
modal lists the criteria for that step.

Lifecycle stages are not a [compliance checklist](/governance/project-compliance).
Checklists come from [governance frameworks](/governance/overview) you activate
and scope to projects. You complete those requirements in Governance mode; you
advance stages from the project's lifecycle controls.

## Lifecycle stages

Projects move through these stages, in order:

| Stage           | Advance control            |
| --------------- | -------------------------- |
| **Intake**      | **Advance to Development** |
| **Development** | **Advance to Staging**     |
| **Staging**     | **Advance to Production**  |
| **Production**  | **Retire project**         |
| **Retired**     | —                          |

If you cannot advance the project, the control shows this tooltip: **Only
workspace admins or project access-group admins can advance projects.** See
[Roles and permissions](/security/roles-and-permissions) and
[Access groups](/security/access-groups).

## Advance from Intake

From **Intake**, the **Advance to Development** modal asks you to **Assign an
owner** and **Score risk**.

* If there is no owner, the modal shows **No owner assigned**.
* If risk is not scored, it shows **Risk has not been assessed**. Use **Score
  risk**. If a score already exists, use **Rescore**.

## Development and Staging gates

From **Development**, the **Advance to Staging** modal lists:

* **Set up development mode** — [development mode](/development/overview), not
  the **Development** lifecycle stage
* **Push your first commit**
* **Integrate system**
* **Configure development tests** — **Add a development test** / **Configure
  tests**. See [Tests configuration](/tests/test-configuration)

From **Staging**, the **Advance to Production** modal lists:

* **Set up monitoring mode** — [monitoring mode](/monitoring/overview)
* **Connect a data source**
* **Connect to deployment**
* **Configure monitoring tests** — **Add a monitoring test**

These labels are the criteria in the modal. They are not the same items as a
framework's [project checklist](/governance/project-compliance).

## Retire a project

From **Production**, the **Retire project** modal moves the project to
**Retired**.

## Overrides and audit

If a listed criterion is unmet, you can still continue with **Override unmet
criteria**. Confirm **I understand and want to override**, enter a **Reason**,
then choose **Advance**. While the request runs, the button shows
**Advancing…**.

You must provide a **Reason** to override.

## Related

* [Governance overview](/governance/overview) — frameworks, platform rules, and
  evidence-based rules
* [Track compliance within a project](/governance/project-compliance) — the
  per-project checklist for an active framework