# Opportunity Lifecycle (https://terac.com/docs/researchers/opportunities/opportunity-lifecycle)

Understanding opportunity states, transitions, and what happens at each stage.

Every opportunity moves through a series of states from creation to completion. Understanding these states helps you manage your research effectively.

## Opportunity States [#opportunity-states]

Draft → Active → Paused → Completed

| State         | Description                                                                                    |
| ------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Draft**     | The opportunity is being configured. It is not visible to participants.                        |
| **Active**    | Recruitment is live. Participants can discover and apply to the opportunity.                   |
| **Paused**    | Recruitment is temporarily stopped. Existing participants can still complete in-progress work. |
| **Completed** | The opportunity is closed. No new applications or submissions are accepted.                    |

## State Transitions [#state-transitions]

### Draft to Active [#draft-to-active]

Launching an opportunity moves it from Draft to Active. Launch unlocks only once every step of the builder is complete, and Terac verifies:

* The opportunity has a name and an expert-facing description
* An incentive per expert is set
* Your organization has enough credits to cover the grand total

### Active to Paused [#active-to-paused]

Pausing an opportunity stops new recruitment while letting current participants finish. Use this when:

* You've reached enough participants temporarily
* You need to adjust screening criteria
* You want to review early submissions before continuing

### Paused to Active [#paused-to-active]

Resuming a paused opportunity reactivates recruitment. All configuration remains unchanged.

### Active or Paused to Completed [#active-or-paused-to-completed]

Stopping an opportunity closes it permanently. Outstanding submissions in progress will still be processed, but no new applications are accepted.

> **Warning**
>
> Stopping an opportunity cannot be undone. If you want to temporarily halt
> recruitment, use Pause instead.

## Submission States Within an Opportunity [#submission-states-within-an-opportunity]

While the opportunity itself has a lifecycle, each participant's submission also moves through its own states:

Screening → Not started → In Progress → Work review → Approved

For the full list of submission states and what each one means, see [Submissions](https://terac.com/docs/researchers/results/submissions).

## Adjusting a Live Opportunity [#adjusting-a-live-opportunity]

You can modify most settings on an active opportunity without pausing:

* **Participant cap** - increase or decrease the target number
* **Filters** - adjust demographic or geographic targeting
* **Compensation** - change the per-participant payout (applies to new participants only)
* **Screening questions** - edit questions on a live study

> Editing screening questions or broadening filters on a live study does not
> re-evaluate participants who have already been screened. Changes apply only to
> participants screened after the change. When you broaden filters, experts who
> were previously out of scope can now qualify and may be invited.

Larger changes to task structure are best made by pausing the opportunity first so participants do not encounter the task mid-edit.

## What's Next? [#whats-next]

- [Creating an Opportunity](https://terac.com/docs/researchers/opportunities/creating-an-opportunity): Build a new opportunity from scratch
- [Manage Submissions](https://terac.com/docs/researchers/results/submissions): Track participant progress
- [Recruitment](https://terac.com/docs/researchers/recruitment): How participants find your opportunity