---
title: "The review queue"
description: "Approving what belongs in the library, and why rejecting is not the same as archiving."
updated: "2026-08-18"
verifiedAgainst:
  - packages/shared/src/assets.ts
---

Everything discovered lands in `pending_review`. Nothing in that state is used in
an article.

## Working the queue

For each asset: approve it if it represents the product, or leave it out if it is
a decorative gradient, a stock photo or a piece of navigation furniture.

<Callout variant="tip">
  A small approved library beats a large one. Ten real screenshots produce better
  articles than two hundred assorted images, because a drafting run choosing from
  ten good options cannot choose badly.
</Callout>

## Archiving

Archiving keeps an asset and takes it out of use. It is the right state for a
screenshot of an interface you have since redesigned: you keep the record, no
article uses it, and rediscovery does not put it back in the queue.

## After approval

An approved asset is available to every article in the Project, both for
automatic placement during drafting and for manual placement in the editor. Add
metadata while you are approving, since that is what makes automatic placement
choose well: see [metadata and alt text](/assets/metadata).