Projects, milestones & quality assurance

Every engagement on RAiN runs as a project — a structured, milestone‑based workflow with evidence and a quality gate. This is what makes RAiN delivery dependable.

The lifecycle

Match accepted → Project created (IN_PROGRESS)
        → Expert works milestones + uploads evidence
        → Expert submits  (SUBMITTED → QA_REVIEW)
        → Admin/Reviewer QA:
              PASS          → VERIFIED → COMPLETED  ✅
              NEEDS_REVISION → back to expert with notes 🔁

Project statuses

Status	Who acts next	Meaning
In progress	Expert	Actively working through milestones
Submitted	RAiN	Expert has submitted for review
In QA review	RAiN	Being checked against the QA checklist
Needs revision	Expert	Returned with notes to fix
Verified	—	Passed QA
Completed	—	Verified and handed over

Milestones

A project ships with 8 standard milestones. Each has its own checklist and can carry evidence:

Milestone	Goal
Intake	Confirm scope, access, and expectations
Audit	Understand current process and AI readiness
Solution design	Decide what will be built and how
Setup	Configure the solution in the client's tools
Testing	Prove it works
Training	Enable the client's team
Launch	Go live
Optimization	Improve after launch

Progress bars on dashboards reflect how many milestones are done.

Evidence

Experts attach evidence so the work is transparent and verifiable:

Evidence type	Example
Screenshot	A working WhatsApp auto‑reply
Configuration summary	What was set up and where
Test results	Proof the flow works end‑to‑end
Known limitations	What's out of scope or pending
Handover doc	How to operate and maintain it

Files open via secure, time‑limited links.

Notes

Evidence proves what was built. Notes say what is happening while it is being built — and they are how an expert raises a problem before submitting.

An expert can leave a note on any milestone or on the job as a whole, from the project page in their Workspace. Each note has a type:

Type	Use it for	Needs a RAiN reply
Update	Progress, context, a decision made along the way	No
Blocker	Something is stopping delivery	Yes
Question	A decision is needed before work can continue	Yes

Notes are private to the expert and RAiN by default. An expert can share an individual note with the client with one click (and un‑share it again) — so they can speak plainly to RAiN about a client's missing credentials or an unresponsive contact without that being client‑facing. The business sees only the shared notes, under "Notes from your expert".

Blockers and questions are the escalation path. An open one pulls the project into the admin QA review queue immediately — even while it is still In progress and nowhere near submission — flagged with an "open" count and sorted to the top. RAiN clears it with Mark resolved (or reopens it if it was closed too early). This is why an expert should never sit on a problem: raising it is what puts it in front of RAiN.

Notes stay writable while a project is in QA review and after it is verified — an expert must be able to answer a reviewer's question — and close only once the project is Completed.

The quality gate (QA)

Before anything is "done", an admin or reviewer runs a QA review:

✅ Pass → project becomes Verified → Completed, and the business sees the handover.
🔁 Needs revision → returns to the expert with notes; they fix and resubmit.

This human checkpoint is deliberate: it's the difference between "submitted" and "trusted".

Who can do what

Action	Business	Expert	Reviewer	Admin
View project status	✅	✅	✅	✅
Advance milestones / upload evidence	—	✅	—	—
Write notes / raise a blocker	—	✅	—	—
Read every note on a project	—	✅	✅	✅
Read notes shared by the expert	✅	✅	✅	✅
Resolve a blocker or question	—	—	✅	✅
Submit for review	—	✅	—	—
Run QA (pass / needs‑revision)	—	—	✅	✅
Match an expert to a business	—	—	—	✅

Related: For businesses · For experts · Admin guide