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# The phase model

A **phase** is one stage in the onboarding sequence. Phases are defined at the workspace level, so every onboarding in your account moves through the same stages in the same order. You change them in one place and the change applies to every open onboarding the next time it's loaded.

## The default sequence

```
Kickoff  →  Integration  →  UAT  →  Launch  →  Adoption
```

Each phase carries a name, a target duration (in days), and an optional default [phase template](/product/onboardings/phase-templates). The duration feeds Pi's at-risk model: if an onboarding sits in **Integration** for longer than its target, Pi flags it on the Workbench risk lane.

## What each default phase is for

* **Kickoff**: contracts signed, intro call booked, contacts confirmed. Goal: get to a shared plan.
* **Integration**: connectors wired, data flowing, configuration mapped. Heaviest engineering load.
* **UAT**: the customer signs off on a working setup in a sandbox or staging environment.
* **Launch**: production cutover, monitoring, the first real users in.
* **Adoption**: driving usage past day 30. Closes when the customer hits your activation bar.

## Customizing the sequence

You can rename phases, reorder them, add new ones, or archive ones you don't use. Open **Admin > Onboarding phases** and:

1. Click a phase name to rename it. The `phase` field on every onboarding updates to the new name.
2. Drag to reorder. Order is the canonical sequence Pi uses for "advance" and "send back."
3. Click **Add phase** to insert a new stage at any position.
4. Hover a phase and click **Archive** to retire it. Onboardings already sitting in that phase stay put until you move them out; you can't archive a phase that has live onboardings in it.

## Gotchas

* Reordering rewrites the canonical sequence for every onboarding. An onboarding in the old position 3 doesn't shift to the new position 3; it stays on the same named phase. If you reorder Kickoff after Integration, every "in Kickoff" onboarding is now behind every "in Integration" onboarding on the kanban.
* Renaming is safe and preserves history. The [audit log](/product/onboardings/audit-log) keeps the old name on past entries.
* Adding a phase mid-sequence does not retroactively put any existing onboarding in it. Onboardings only enter a phase when you move them there.
* Workspace-wide phases mean you can't have a different sequence per customer segment. If your enterprise flow needs a separate **Security review** phase but SMB doesn't, you add it to the workspace and use [phase templates](/product/onboardings/phase-templates) to leave its tasks empty for SMB.

## Related

* [Move through phases](/product/onboardings/move-through-phases)
* [Phase templates](/product/onboardings/phase-templates)
* [Onboarding states](/product/onboardings/onboarding-states)

Email **[help@pivotal.app](mailto:help@pivotal.app)** with a screenshot of where you got stuck and the customer or onboarding id from the URL.