> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.itential.com/itential-platform/2023-2/lifecycle-manager/overview/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.itential.com/_mcp/server.

# Lifecycle Manager overview

**Add-on product**: Lifecycle Manager extends Itential Platform with stateful orchestration capabilities. It requires Itential Platform as a prerequisite. [View platform overview](/itential-platform/overview)

Lifecycle Manager tracks and manages the state of infrastructure resources throughout their lifecycle. Use it to maintain persistent data about devices, services, and configurations as they change over time.

## What is Lifecycle Manager?

Lifecycle Manager represents infrastructure entities as **resources** that include:

* **Resource model**: A JSON Schema that defines the properties you want to track
* **Instances**: Individual occurrences of the resource (for example, specific devices or services)
* **Actions**: Workflows that manage instances and update their properties

## How it works

Lifecycle Manager maintains state persistence after workflow execution. When you run an action against an instance, Lifecycle Manager records property changes and makes them available for future reference.

**Example workflow**: Managing network switches

#### Create a resource

Define a resource type to represent switches in your environment

#### Define the resource model

Specify properties to track, such as hostname, IP address, and VLAN configuration

#### Create instances

Add instances to represent each physical switch

#### Design actions

Build workflows that update instance properties when you make changes

When an action modifies a switch hostname, Lifecycle Manager records the new hostname in the instance. You can view the current hostname even after the action completes.

Lifecycle Manager tracks changes made through actions within Platform. Changes made directly on devices or through other systems may not appear in Lifecycle Manager. Design your workflows to account for these discrepancies.

## Comparison with other platform applications

| Capability              | Studio | Lifecycle Manager | Operations Manager |
| ----------------------- | ------ | ----------------- | ------------------ |
| Design workflows        | Yes    | No                | No                 |
| Run jobs                | Yes    | Yes               | Yes                |
| Maintain resource state | No     | Yes               | No                 |
| View job history        | No     | No                | Yes                |

## Before you begin

Before using Lifecycle Manager, familiarize yourself with:

* **JSON Schema basics**: Resource models use JSON Schemas. Review [JSON Schema documentation](https://json-schema.org/) for syntax and structure
* **Workflow design**: Actions interface with workflows. See [Workflow documentation](/itential-platform/studio/workflows/overview) for design patterns
* **Resource concepts**: Understand how entities map to resources. See [Lifecycle Manager resources](/itential-platform/lifecycle-manager/manage-resources)

## Access Lifecycle Manager

Access and navigate Lifecycle Manager through Itential Platform.

To access Lifecycle Manager:

#### Open Platform dashboard

Log in to Itential Platform

#### Navigate to Lifecycle Manager

Select **Lifecycle Manager** from in the left navigation menu

## Next steps

#### [Work with resources](/itential-platform/lifecycle-manager/manage-resources)

Create resource models, instances, and actions

#### [View instance history](/itential-platform/lifecycle-manager/view-instance-history)

Track how instance data changes over time