---
key: add-a-lifecycle-status
title: Add or change a lifecycle status
audience: staff
section: settings
routes: ["/settings/org/lifecycle"]
permissions: ["metadata.lifecycle_statuses.read"]
features: ["settings.org.lifecycle"]
since: 0.0.1
updated: 0.0.1
status: published
summary: Add your own lifecycle stages for leads and customers, rename or reorder them, pick the default starting status, and archive the ones you no longer use.
keywords: [lead status, customer status, pipeline stage, account stage, prospect, won, lost, stages]
related: [require-a-reason-for-sensitive-actions, create-an-account, find-leads-and-customers]
---

In the sidebar, open **Settings**, then choose **Lifecycles** under **Accounts**. The page address is `/settings/org/lifecycle`. The page title reads **Organization Lifecycle**.

A lifecycle status is the stage an account is in: a lead, an active customer, an inactive one, or a lost one. Nova comes with system statuses; this page lets you add your own and change the order they appear in.

## Before you start

- Your role needs the lifecycle statuses permission to see the page, and permission to create and update them to change anything. If **Add lifecycle status** is missing, ask your admin.
- Every status sits in one of four categories: **Leads**, **Active**, **Inactive** or **Lost**. Decide which category the new stage belongs to before you add it.

## Steps

1. Scroll past **Reason requirements** (when your page shows it) to the **Add lifecycle status** section and open it.
2. Type the name in **Label**, for example "Lead - Warm". Nova fills in **Key** from the label. You can change the key now, but not after the status is saved.
3. Pick a **Category**.
4. Turn on **Make default start status** if new accounts should start in this stage. Only one status per organization can be the default start.
5. Press **Add status**. The new status appears under **Active statuses** in its category.

To change a status you added, open its card under **Active statuses** and edit **Label**, **Category** or **Make default start status**. The card reads **Changes save automatically.** There is no save button.

To reorder statuses, drag the grip handle on a card up or down within its category. Moving a status that came from Nova makes your organization's own copy of it, the same as **Create override**.

To retire a status, press **Archive** on its card and confirm in the **Archive lifecycle status** dialog. The status moves to **Archived statuses**. Press **Restore** there to bring it back.

## What you see

- Each card's preview line shows the category, the key, **Default start** if it is the starting status, and whether the status came from Nova or from your organization.
- A system status cannot be edited directly. Press **Create override** on it to make a copy that belongs to your organization, then edit the copy.
- Archiving hides the status from pickers. Accounts already in that status keep their history.

## If something looks different

- **Add lifecycle status** is missing: your role cannot create statuses.
- **Archive** and **Restore** are missing: your role cannot update statuses. The fields on a card still accept typing, but the change is not kept and the card reads **Autosave failed. Keep editing to retry.**
- The **Make default start status** switch is greyed out: the status is archived or is a system status. Restore it, or create an override first.
- The top of the page shows **Reason requirements**: that is a separate setting on the same page. See [[require-a-reason-for-sensitive-actions]].

[[route:/settings/org/lifecycle|Open Lifecycles]]