Task State Transitions

Task as Finite State Machine (FSM)

State Transition Graph

Relay owns task deadlines. A task can be aborted only by the deadline rule for its current state, or by its creator while it is still Queued. A selected node cannot abort a task.

The task state transition graph is given below. Deadline transitions to EndAborted are listed separately after the graph:

Deadline Transitions

Only the row matching the current state applies. A state transition invalidates the preceding deadline.

Current state	Deadline	Transition	Fee handling	Node handling
Queued	Ordinary GPT and Stable Diffusion: CreateTime + queue_timeout_seconds. Stable Diffusion fine-tuning: CreateTime + 3 minutes + Timeout.	Queued → EndAborted, reason TaskAbortTimeout	Full refund	No selected node and no penalty
Started or ParametersUploaded	StartTime + Timeout	Current state → EndAborted, reason TaskAbortTimeout	Full refund	Execution-timeout health penalty, then release
ScoreReady or ErrorReported	ScoreReadyTime + app_validation_timeout_seconds	Current state → EndAborted, reason TaskAbortCreatorValidationTimeout	No refund; distribute this task's fee using the successful-task fee split	No penalty, then release
Validated or GroupValidated	ValidatedTime + result_upload_timeout_seconds	Current state → EndAborted, reason TaskAbortResultUploadTimeout	Full refund	Result-upload-timeout health penalty, then release

For ordinary GPT and Stable Diffusion tasks, Relay calculates execution Timeout after selecting the exact GPU variant, from the calibrated execution-time estimate for that GPU and model. The estimate and timeout conversion are described here:

Task Execution Time Estimation

The execution parameters are estimates only; they do not determine validation, consensus, payment, or slashing.

TaskAbortCreatorValidationTimeout means the creator did not complete validation by the deadline. Its fee distribution compensates the node operator and eligible delegators for node time already occupied. The task remains EndAborted, and the distribution does not mean the result was correct. This applies to both ScoreReady and ErrorReported.

If any validation-group member reaches EndAborted for TaskAbortCreatorValidationTimeout, Relay permanently rejects validation of the whole group. The group cannot be validated by excluding that member. Other members retain their own deadlines and current states until they independently reach terminal states.

The creator can cancel only a task whose current state is Queued. This transition uses the creator-cancellation reason, gives a full refund, and does not penalize a node.

Group Validation Results

When a task is validated in a validation group, its result state is determined according to the table below:

Rows containing EndAborted apply only when no member has ended with TaskAbortCreatorValidationTimeout. That reason permanently makes the group ineligible for validation.

Task 1 Before	Task 2 Before	Task 3 Before	Task 1 After	Task 2 After	Task 3 After
ScoreReady (A)	ScoreReady (A)	ScoreReady (A)	GroupValidated	EndGroupRefund	EndGroupRefund
ScoreReady (A)	ScoreReady (A)	ScoreReady (B)	GroupValidated	EndGroupRefund	EndInvalidated
ScoreReady (A)	ScoreReady (B)	ScoreReady (C)	EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted
ScoreReady (A)	ScoreReady (A)	ErrorReported	GroupValidated	EndGroupRefund	EndInvalidated
ScoreReady (A)	ScoreReady (B)	ErrorReported	EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted
ScoreReady (A)	ScoreReady (A)	EndAborted	GroupValidated	EndGroupRefund	EndAborted
ScoreReady (A)	ScoreReady (B)	EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted
ScoreReady	ErrorReported	ErrorReported	EndInvalidated	EndAborted	EndAborted
ScoreReady	ErrorReported	EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted
ScoreReady	EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted
ErrorReported	ErrorReported	ErrorReported	EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted
ErrorReported	ErrorReported	EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted
ErrorReported	EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted
EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted	EndAborted

Actions for Each State

State	Action
Group Validated	Record the address of all the 3 nodes in the validation group.
End Success	Settle the payment. Release the node.
End Group Refund	Refund the payment. Release the node.
End Group Success	Distribute payment to 3 nodes. Release the node.
End Invalidated	Refund the payment. Slash the node.
End Aborted: CreatorValidationTimeout	Distribute this task's fee using the successful-task fee split as compensation for occupied node time. Do not mark the result correct. Do not penalize the node. Release the node.
End Aborted: all other reasons	Refund the payment. Apply a node health penalty only when the specific reason assigns the timeout to the node. Release a selected node.