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# Understand statuses and the three states

Every request has a status. A **status** is a label you create and your clients see, such as "New" or "Waiting for Client". Each status belongs to one of three **states** — **Pending**, **Active** or **Completed** — and Zendo counts requests by state. You create statuses in **Settings › Requests › Statuses** and give each one its state there. A request type chooses which statuses it uses and in what order.

## A status is a label you create

All statuses of your workspace are in one list at **Settings › Requests › Statuses**. A status has a **Name**, an optional **Description** for your team, and two colours, **Text** and **Background**, for its label. Every workspace starts with three statuses marked **Default**: New, In Progress and Done. You cannot archive these three but you can archive any status you created.

Each status has a **State**: Pending, Active or Completed. You choose the state when you create the status. In the statuses list, the **State** column shows it and **Used in** lists the request types that use the status. The three default statuses already have their states: New is Pending, In Progress is Active, Done is Completed.

![Settings › Requests › Statuses lists every status with its state and the request types that use it.](https://getzendo.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/kb-q6-statuses-list.webp =652x574)

## A request type chooses its statuses and their order

A new request type starts with the three default statuses — New, In Progress and Done (you can rename them) — and you add any other statuses you want. When you change the state of a status that is already in use, Zendo shows how many request types and requests this affects before you save. To remove a status that is in use, you choose a replacement for it first. See [Create a request type](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/create-a-request-type-pucu6t/).

![In a request type, statuses are grouped by state. Add statuses adds one from your library.](https://getzendo.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/kb-q6-statuses.webp =490x456)

## Zendo counts by state; clients see the status

Your clients see the status under the name you gave it. The features that must work across all request types use the state:

- The automation trigger **Request state changed** runs when a request enters the state you choose. The trigger **Request status changed** runs when a request gets one particular status.
- In a subscription, **Max number of concurrent active requests** counts requests in the Active state, and **Total (pending + active) concurrent requests** counts both.

See [Automate a request type](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/automate-a-request-type-1m2cf6k/) and [Sell a subscription with packages](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/sell-a-subscription-with-packages-1dy3i96/).

## Renaming, changing the state of and adding a status work differently

**Renaming a status** changes the name everybody sees. Automations on **Request state changed** and subscription limits keep working, because the state stays the same.

**Changing the state of a status** changes every request type that uses it. Requests with that status move to the new state, so automations and limits that count states may be affected.

**Adding a status** only creates a new label with a state. It is not used until you add it to a request type.

## Related

- [Create a request type](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/create-a-request-type-pucu6t/)
- [Automate a request type](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/automate-a-request-type-1m2cf6k/)
- [Sell a subscription with packages](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/sell-a-subscription-with-packages-1dy3i96/)
- [Work a request from arrival to done](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/work-a-request-from-arrival-to-done-jfl1fw/)
- [Find requests: views, filters and search](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/find-requests-views-filters-and-search-lk9az4/)