STAGES in src/lib/types.ts.
failed is terminal until an eligible deterministic retry creates the next authorized transition. Brief-only jobs may enter later work without media ingestion, but persisted state still identifies the actual stage.
Only application transactions advance the stage. Agents, Pub/Sub messages, logs, and external providers cannot do so directly. See Production flow and State ownership.
The evidence packet is assembled and persisted during verification. It is an artifact and audit event, not a job stage.