Order Lifecycle
Every order in SeqDesk moves through a defined set of statuses. Understanding the lifecycle helps researchers know when they can edit orders and helps admins track progress.
Status Flow
DRAFT → SUBMITTED → COMPLETED| Status | Who Sets It | Editable | Deletable |
|---|---|---|---|
DRAFT | Created automatically | Yes — all fields and samples | Yes |
SUBMITTED | Researcher submits | Limited (see below) | Admin only (if enabled) |
COMPLETED | Facility admin | Limited (see below) | Admin only (if enabled) |
After DRAFT, deleting a SUBMITTED or COMPLETED order requires both facility-admin privileges and the Allow deletion of submitted orders setting to be enabled (Admin → Settings → Data Handling). Researchers can never delete an order once it leaves DRAFT.
Status Details
DRAFT
The initial state for every new order. The order is a work in progress.
- Researcher can edit all order fields
- Samples can be added, modified, or removed
- The order is only visible to its creator (and facility admins)
- No facility notifications are sent
SUBMITTED
The researcher has finished preparing the order and sent it to the facility.
- The facility sees the order in their queue
- The researcher sees any post-submission instructions configured by the admin
- Regular sample data (organism, titles, aliases, MIxS, custom fields) becomes read-only — these can only be edited while the order is in DRAFT
- The researcher can still edit order-level metadata (order name, contact details, library settings) until the order is COMPLETED
- Facility admins can edit order-level metadata and admin-only per-sample fields (e.g. sample QC result and notes), but not regular sample data
- Sequencing files and sequencing runs can be assigned to samples from this point on
- A
STATUS_CHANGEnote is recorded automatically
COMPLETED
The facility marks the order complete when sequencing is finished and data is available.
- Order-level metadata becomes read-only for researchers
- Facility admins can still edit order metadata and admin-only per-sample fields
- Sequencing files and runs can be assigned to samples (this is also possible at SUBMITTED)
- Samples can be added to studies for analysis
- A
STATUS_CHANGEnote is recorded automatically
Status Notes
Status notes are an automatic audit trail attached to each order. Only two note types are ever created by the application:
| Note Type | Created By | Description |
|---|---|---|
STATUS_CHANGE | System | Records every status transition with timestamp |
SAMPLES_SENT | Researcher or facility admin | Marks when physical samples were sent to the facility (recorded once, available after submission) |
Notes appear on the order detail page, sorted newest first.
Free-text admin annotations are not status notes. Each order has a separate Notes field that facility admins can edit directly on the order; it is independent of the status-note audit trail above.
Department Sharing
When department sharing is enabled in admin settings, researchers can see orders from all members of their department, not just their own. This is useful for collaborative labs.
- Enabled at Admin → Settings → Extra Settings → Department Sharing
- Facility admins always see all orders regardless of this setting