How unlocking works

The automatic process by which a node moves from locked to available when its prerequisites resolve. Tree evaluates the graph continuously.

Unlocking is the process by which a node moves from "locked" to "available" when its prerequisites resolve. The mechanic is automatic: Tree evaluates the graph continuously, and any node whose prerequisites are all complete becomes available immediately.

The four states

A node has one of four states at any time: locked, available, in-progress, or complete. The transitions between states follow specific rules.

State transitions

  • Locked → Available: triggered when the last incomplete prerequisite becomes complete. No manual action required. The node moves into the available tier the moment the graph evaluates the change.
  • Available → In-progress: triggered when a user claims the node. This is a manual action, equivalent to starting work. The node remains in the available tier visually but is marked as in-progress so the rest of the team knows it's been picked up.
  • In-progress → Complete: triggered when the user marks the work done. This is the only state transition that fires the unlock check for downstream nodes. Marking a node complete causes Tree to evaluate every node that depends on it and unlock any whose prerequisites are now fully satisfied.
  • Complete → (no further state): completed nodes stay on the graph as foundation for the work above them. They don't disappear. They turn green and remain visible.

Why four states

The four-state model is deliberately small. Most project tools support custom workflows with many states (in review, blocked, ready for QA, won't fix, deferred). Tree doesn't, because the four states plus the graph's structure already encode the information custom workflows usually capture.

A node "in review" is a node whose review prerequisite is incomplete. The graph knows.

Automatic, not configured

Unlocking is computed, not configured. The team can't manually mark a node as "available" if its prerequisites aren't complete. The mechanic is enforced by the data model.

LAST UPDATED · 2026-05-11