Relationship type lifecycle

The Lifecycle

Transitions Explained

New definitions can start active or inactive. Deactivation preserves existing links, revival permits new links and removal deletes only definitions with no current references. Owner selections prevent both removal and deactivation.

What Cannot Happen

Shape-changing replacements and retirement beneath an owner selection are refused. A request that leaves an inactive type unchanged is allowed; it is not an invalid state transition.

Concurrency and Timing

Definition replacement uses an exclusive type lock and current version; removal uses the lock alone. Link writes share that row, delaying type changes until current writes finish.