How projects work on Tailore
A map of the whole project lifecycle: what each of the six stages means, how the status badge differs from the stage, who moves a project forward, and which gates can hold it back.
The six stages
Every Tailore project moves through the same six stages. The stage answers one question - how far along the work is - and nothing else.
| Stage | What it means |
|---|---|
| Inquiry | A client has asked about a piece. You reply, ask questions, and decide how to respond. |
| Planning | Optional. Consultations, measurements, and scoping before you commit to terms. Skipping it is normal. |
| Agreement | You have sent a proposal and the client is reviewing or has approved it. |
| Creation | The piece is being made. Fittings happen here as appointments - they are not a stage of their own. |
| Fulfillment | The finished piece is being shipped, picked up, or handed over. |
| Completed | The client has confirmed they received the piece. Only the client can do this. |
Screenshot needed: a project header showing the stage rail and the status badge together
Stage vs. status badge
Alongside the stage, every project carries a status badge: Awaiting proposal, Awaiting your approval, Awaiting payment, Active, Issue reported, Under review, Cancellation requested, Completed, Declined, Withdrawn, or Cancelled. The stage says how far the project is; the badge says what it is waiting on right now.
A project in Creation can be Active one week and Issue reported the next without changing stage. Read the two together - the badge is usually the thing that tells you whose move it is.
Moving a project forward - or back
You drive the stage. Advance walks a project from Planning to Agreement to Creation to Fulfillment, one step at a time. The one exception is Agreement: a project reaches Agreement when you send a proposal - it can't be moved there by hand. Going straight from Inquiry to Agreement by sending a proposal, without ever using Planning, is completely normal.
Backward moves are allowed too - a fitting reveals rework, a shipment comes back. When you move a project back a stage, a reason is required: the product asks you to "Tell the client why you're moving the project back a stage". Every move, in either direction, is recorded on the project's stage history card.
The gates that hold a project
Creation is gated on the deposit
If the deposit is unpaid, advancing stops with "The deposit hasn't been paid yet - production can't start until it is." Request the deposit and wait for it to settle before starting production.
Entering Fulfillment has its own gate: the project needs an approved proposal, a settled handover method (a proposal sent with a to-be-confirmed method must be revised to a final one first), no outstanding staged money, and no open issue. If several of these block at once, they are all reported together, so you fix the list once rather than discovering them one by one.
Completed is not yours to set: only the client confirms completion. Once the piece is handed over, the last move belongs to them. For what happens inside each of these stages, see Consultations, proposals and milestones.
Common questions
No. Planning is optional - it exists for consultation and measurement work before terms. If the brief is clear, send a proposal from Inquiry and the project moves straight to Agreement.
Agreement means real terms exist. It is entered only by sending a proposal, so the stage always reflects a document the client can approve - never a hand-set label.
Fittings are appointments scheduled inside Creation, not a stage. A project can hold several fittings without its stage ever changing.
No. Fulfillment is as far as you can take it - the client confirms completion after they receive the piece.
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