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One rental has several state owners

A reliable shared power bank workflow does not compress every system into one success flag. Device, rental, payment and return evidence progress independently and must be reconciled.

Evidence lanes

LaneSource of truthExamples of evidence
Station presenceDevice connectivity servicelast accepted observation, profile version, freshness
Rental recordRental servicerental reference, station reference, timestamps, state history
Device outcomeDevice integration serviceprepared, released, timeout or exception category
PaymentApproved payment provider integrationauthorization, capture, decline, refund and provider reference
ReturnStation and rental reconciliationslot observation, return acceptance, exception review
SupportOperator workflowreason, owner, decision, timestamp and audit note

Important transitions

Prepared is not released

An eligible slot and a prepared rental do not prove that a power bank was physically released. Device outcome evidence must be accepted separately.

Payment acceptance does not prove hardware release. If payment and device outcomes diverge, the rental enters a review or compensation path defined by the approved market workflow.

Returned is not reconciled

A station observation may start return handling, but the rental closes only after return and billing evidence agree.

Unknown is not zero

Missing telemetry, unavailable provider data or inaccessible support records must be represented as UNKNOWN, not as zero activity or success.

Integration review questions

  • Which service owns each transition?
  • What is the retry and idempotency key?
  • How long may evidence be stale?
  • Which transitions require human review?
  • What compensation path applies when payment and device results diverge?
  • Which fields may be exported without exposing personal or operational secrets?