Creator pipeline (request status pipeline)

A creator pipeline is the lifecycle each brand collaboration request progresses through, from the moment it lands in a creator's inbox to the moment it's marked done. Where a DM thread just gets longer and harder to search over time, a pipeline gives every request a current status — visible at a glance — so the creator always knows what's pending action and what's complete.

Collaffy's pipeline uses ten creator-visible statuses: NEW, ACCEPTED, DECLINED, DISCUSSING, BUDGET_APPROVED, PENDING, IN_PROGRESS, NOT_INTERESTED, ON_HOLD_INTERNAL, and COMPLETED. A request moves forward when the creator acts on it (accepting, negotiating, marking as in-progress); terminal statuses (COMPLETED, DECLINED, NOT_INTERESTED) close it out.

Brands separately track their own internal-only workflow — lead qualification, contract progress, awaiting-creator-response — through a parallel status enum that the creator never sees and that never triggers creator notifications. This keeps each side's pipeline relevant to its own work without polluting the other side's inbox.