Object Lifecycle Management

authentik: 2026.2.0+PreviewEnterprise

Object Lifecycle Management allows you to automate periodic reviews of authentication settings for groups, roles, and applications.

You can schedule reviews, track progress, and notify reviewers automatically.

Lifecycle rules

Lifecycle rules define how often reviews are scheduled, the time before a review becomes overdue, who needs to approve a review, and how reviewers are notified.

You can create and configure Lifecycle rules via the Events > Lifecycle Rules page.

Rule scope

A lifecycle rule can be scoped to:

• A specific object: The rule applies only to that individual Application, Group, or Role.
• An entire object type: The rule applies to all objects of that type that don't have their own specific rule, e.g., all applications.

When both a type-level rule and an object-specific rule exist, the object-specific rule takes precedence for that object.

Rule settings

A lifecycle rule has the following settings:

Setting	Description
Object type	The type of object this rule applies to.
Object	(Optional) A specific object to apply this rule to. If left empty, the rule applies to all objects of the selected type.
Interval	How often reviews are scheduled (e.g., every 60 days). After a review is completed, the next review will be scheduled after this interval.
Grace period	The time period reviewers have to complete the review before it becomes overdue. Must be shorter than the interval.
Reviewer groups	Groups whose members can submit reviews.
Min reviewers	The minimum number of reviews required from members of any reviewing group.
Min reviewers is per group	When enabled, the minimum number of reviewers is required from each reviewer group separately. When disabled, it's a total across all groups.
Explicit reviewers	Individual users who must all submit a review, in addition to the reviewer groups requirement.
Notification transports	How reviewers are notified about pending, overdue, and completed reviews.

Reviewer requirements

An object's review is considered complete when all of the following conditions are met:

1. All explicit reviewers have submitted their reviews.
2. The minimum number of reviews from reviewer group members has been reached (either per group or in total, depending on the setting).

For example, if a rule has:

• Two explicit reviewers (Alice and Bob)
• Two reviewer groups (Security Team and Compliance Team)
• Min reviewers is set to 2
• Min reviewers is per-group is enabled

Then the review requires approval from: Alice, Bob, at least 2 members of the Security Team, and at least 2 members of the Compliance Team.

Review states of an object

Each object governed by a lifecycle rule has a review state. You can view all objects with pending or overdue review states on the Events > Reviews page. You can also view an individual object's current review state on the Lifecycle tab of the object's detail page.

State	Description
Pending	A review has been initiated and is waiting for reviewers.
Overdue	The grace period has passed without the review being completed.
Reviewed	All required reviews have been received and the review is complete.
Canceled	The review was canceled, typically because the lifecycle rule was deleted or modified.

Object review workflow

The following steps illustrate the workflow for an object lifecycle review process:

1. When a lifecycle rule is created or when the interval since the last completed review has elapsed, the object enters the Pending review state and reviewers are notified.
2. Reviewers submit their reviews (with an optional note).
3. After all requirements are met, the object transitions to the Reviewed state.
4. If the grace period passes without all requirements being met, the object becomes Overdue and reviewers receive an alert.
5. After the interval passes, a new review cycle begins and the object returns to the Pending state.

Reviewer workflow

To review and approve an object and its associated lifecycle rule, follow the steps below. A reviewer can be either a user set as an explicit reviewer or a member of a configured reviewer group.

1. Once a new review cycle starts for an object, you receive a notification that a review is due (via the configured notification transports).

2. Click on the link in the notification to navigate to the object's detail page.

   Alternatively, you can navigate to the Events > Reviews page and enable "Only show reviews where I am a reviewer" filter to see objects awaiting your review. Here, you can click on the object to navigate to its detail page.

   In both cases, you will be taken to the Lifecycle tab of the object's detail page.

3. Review the object's current configuration.

4. Go back to the Lifecycle tab.

5. Click Review to submit your review, optionally including a note.

6. Once all reviewer requirements are met, the object automatically transitions to the Reviewed state.

Submit a review

When an object is in the Pending or Overdue review state, authorized reviewers can submit reviews for it. Each reviewer can only submit one review per review cycle. When submitting a review, reviewers can optionally include a note explaining their decision.

Only authorized reviewers can submit reviews:

• Members of the configured reviewer groups
• Users listed as explicit reviewers

Notifications

Reviewers are notified at the following events:

Event	Severity	Description
Review initiated	Notice	An object has entered the Pending review state.
Review overdue	Alert	The grace period has passed and the review is still incomplete.
Review completed	Notice	All required reviews have been received.

Configure notification transports on the lifecycle rule to control how these notifications are delivered (UI notification, email, webhook, etc.).