Commitment lifecycle

A commitment is always in exactly one state. It advances in one direction — it never jumps backward — and most commitments only ever touch the first four.

• Draft → Active → Proof review → Resolved.
• Two branches can interrupt that path before a charge: a withdrawal or a dispute.
• The transitions are driven by Deadlines and Verdicts.

A draft is a commitment that has not been confirmed at checkout. Nothing is binding and no payment method is attached yet.

• The goal text, commitment deadline, proof deadline, proof scope, and amount are all still editable.
• A draft has no legal effect and creates no payment authorization.
• It leaves this state only by completing checkout — see Creating a commitment.

At checkout the draft becomes active: the terms are accepted, a payment method is saved, and a conditional charge is authorized. The deadlines are now locked.

• This is the working phase — you complete the goal by the commitment deadline.
• No money has moved. The saved method is described in Payment method storage.
• An active commitment can still be withdrawn during its 14-day window.

Once proof is uploaded — or the proof deadline passes without it — the commitment enters review. Review compares the evidence against the agreed scope and issues a verdict.

• A completed verdict sends the commitment straight to resolution with no charge.
• A failed verdict proposal does not charge anything; it opens the dispute branch. How evidence is judged is covered in Proof and review.

Resolution is the terminal state. A commitment lands here in exactly one of four ways, and once resolved it does not change again.

• Completed — proof met the scope; nothing is charged.
• Withdrawn — validly cancelled within the withdrawal period; nothing is charged.
• Reversed — a failed verdict was overturned by a dispute; nothing is charged.
• Failed and charged — the failed verdict stood, the dispute and withdrawal windows passed, and the amount was charged. See Charges and invoices.

Two safeguards sit between a failed verdict and any money moving, and either one can redirect the commitment to a no-charge resolution.

• Withdrawal — the statutory 14-day right cancels the commitment regardless of the verdict. See Withdrawal period.
• Dispute — the 48-hour product dispute can overturn a failed verdict. See Disputes.
• Only when both windows close without cancelling can a failed commitment become chargeable.