Record lifecycle: the states a record moves through — The state is an ordinary field

A record's state is the value of a Select field you nominate — there is no hidden parallel status living somewhere else. This is the same decision posting rules made, for the same reason: "everything sitting in Qualified" is a board column, a saved view, a filter, a rollup and an automation trigger the moment it is an ordinary field value. Every state you define must exist as an option on that field. The editor creates the missing ones, and the field editor then refuses to delete an option a live lifecycle uses. The reverse can also happen: live records holding a value that isn't a stage — set before the lifecycle existed, or an option you chose to leave out. The editor lists them under Outside the lifecycle with live counts: bring a value in with one click, or open its records from the count and move them. Until then those records are exempt from every rule, and the page says so rather than leaving them silently unconstrained. Records with a blank status are reported the same way.