> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.outerlayer.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How a work item flows

> What a work item is, what attaches to it, and what is left when the work ships.

This page follows one work item from issue to shipped. [Key concepts](/concepts) defines the terms it uses.

## An item arrives

Add an issue from the Work page with **Add work**, or from a terminal with `outerlayer work build --issue 42`. Either way the item gets a number.

**Build**, or `work build` alone, asks a host to build the item. **Build locally**, or `work build --local`, leaves it for you to build yourself, and no host takes it.

That is the only way an item reaches the Work page. `outerlayer work remove` withdraws your request for it. The item leaves the Work page once no request for it remains, and its history is kept.

## Sessions attach

A session attaches when you start it with `OUTERLAYER_WORK` set to the item's number. The item must exist first: launching never creates one. [Launch a session](/launch-a-session) shows the command and what to type once the session opens.

The session shows up on the item's page, with what it did and what it cost.

## Pull requests join

A session on the item declares its pull request with `outerlayer work pr 418`. `outerlayer work open-pr --title <text> --body-file <path>` opens one and declares it in one step.

## Checks build up

[Checks](/concepts#how-the-work-is-judged) are recorded on the item, so they hold across all its pull requests. A person's own pass or fail is a review, recorded separately on the item page.

Where checks come from:

* Each validator file in `.outerlayer/validators/` adds one check. `outerlayer init` writes one, `code-review`: a code review result recorded.
* The item's recorded criteria count toward the verdict separately. An unproven criterion flags it.
* A missing criteria list flags it too, unless `criteria.missing` lowers that.

A repository with no policy file and no validators has nothing checked, and nothing blocks.

## The item ships

Once its checks are green and every declared proof is present, a person can approve it and merge its pull requests from the item's page. Merging on GitHub also ships the item. A merge made while the verdict still blocks marks it *Done, unverified*.

When its pull requests merge, the item is shipped, and its cost and duration are kept. A session's page shows what that session cost. The factory's **Metrics** page totals cost per item, time to complete and throughput.

## Where each piece is documented

| Piece | Page |
| - | - |
| Launching a session on an item | [Launch a session](/launch-a-session) |
| Declaring a pull request | [Declare a pull request](/declare-a-pull-request) |
| Recording a check, and who may override one | [Record a check](/record-a-check) |
| Choosing what a pull request must prove, and what blocks a merge | [Policy and validators](/policy-and-validators) |
| Proof artifacts | [Attach evidence](/attach-evidence) |
| Approving and merging | [Approve and merge](/review-the-work#approve-and-merge) |


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.