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Every escrow tracks two related fields:
  • state — where the escrow is in its lifecycle: AWAITING_PAYMENTOPENEDCLOSED.
  • status — the business outcome: PENDING, ONGOING, COMPLETED, REFUNDED, CLAIMED, DISPUTED, or INVESTIGATING.

The happy path

1

AWAITING_PAYMENT / PENDING

The escrow was created via Create escrow. It can still be edited or deleted by the seller while in this state.
2

OPENED / ONGOING

The buyer funded the escrow via Pay escrow. Funds are held by Payluk. The delivery window (maxDelivery + deliveryTimeline) starts counting.
3

CLOSED / COMPLETED

The buyer confirms delivery, releasing funds to the seller. Commission is charged on completion.

Alternate outcomes

If the delivery window elapses and the buyer hasn’t confirmed, the seller can call Claim funds. This is only allowed when the escrow is OPENED and the window has passed.
Only the buyer can open a dispute while the escrow is OPENED; the seller can only respond once one is raised. The merchant then resolves it. Milestone escrows can’t be disputed.
When a merchant resolves a dispute in the buyer’s favour, funds are returned to the buyer and the escrow closes as REFUNDED.

State reference

StateMeaning
AWAITING_PAYMENTCreated but not yet funded. Editable/deletable.
OPENEDFunded and held. Delivery in progress.
CLOSEDTerminal. Settled, refunded, or otherwise finalised.
See the full status reference for how status values combine with each state, and How it works (end-to-end) for the exact endpoints to call at each stage. If you sell more than one unit off a single link, read Multi-quantity escrows.