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The life of a code
Every AVRA code belongs to a batch, and the batch has a state. The state decides whether a code answers anything at all — which is why a stolen print file verifies nothing.
The five states #
The life of one batch
Codes are born dead
A batch of codes has five states: four on the way to the shelf — generated, exported, activated, blocked — and cancelled, for a batch stopped before any export. In the first two the codes verify nothing, so a stolen print file is worthless. Only activation, after printing quality control, makes them return a genuine verdict. Blocking a batch stops them again.
generated
Codes created
Made against credits. A stolen print file verifies nothing.
Verifies nothing
exported
Sent to the press
The file leaves the building. Still nothing verifies.
Verifies nothing
Printing QC activates
activated
Live on the shelf
Printing QC passes. Only now do the codes answer.
Genuine
blocked
Withdrawn
The brand blocks the batch, and every code in it stops.
Recalled
A leaked print file, an overrun or a reel that walks out of the factory is worthless here.
generated- What it means
- The codes exist and the credits are spent. Nothing is printed yet.
- What a scan of a code says
- We can't verify this code
exported- What it means
- A print file has been built (downloaded or not).
- What a scan of a code says
- We can't verify this code
activated- What it means
- Printing QC passed and somebody activated the batch in the console.
- What a scan of a code says
- GENUINE, VALID or SCANNED BEFORE, by the scan rules
blocked- What it means
- The batch reached the market and was recalled, stolen or found wrong.
- What a scan of a code says
- RECALLED
cancelled- What it means
- Generated in error and cancelled before any file left the building. Its codes are blocked, not deleted, so no label number is ever reused.
- What a scan of a code says
- RECALLED
Why codes are born dead #
A batch is generated and its codes verify nothing. The print file is exported and they still verify nothing. Only when the batch is activated — after the run has been checked — do the codes start answering.
So a print file that leaks, a reel walked off the floor, an overrun nobody told you about: none of it verifies. And ten of your own unactivated labels scanned in a week raises an alert on its own — one or two are QC test scans, ten different labels are a print file that left the building.
Cancel, or block #
A batch generated with the wrong quantity, kind or product can be cancelled — and its credits come back — only while nothing has left the building: no export has ever been requested. The moment an export has been asked for, the printer may hold the file, so the only way to stop the codes is to block the batch, which recalls them and keeps the credits spent.
Cancelled is final. A cancelled batch cannot be activated or blocked afterwards, and its label numbers are never reused.
What happens to the print file #
Whoever runs the batch — the partner, or a brand running its own — downloads the print file freely until the batch is activated. After that it is a list of live codes: only a platform admin can download it, every download is audited, and the file is purged 30 days after activation. For Dual Code batches, the console's QR preview follows the same rule and audits every look; single-code batches are listed under In progress on the security page.
How long an activated code verifies #
Every code verifies for three years from the day its batch is switched on, whatever happens to your plan. After that it shows a neutral “verification period has ended” page with your care number — never “fake” or “expired”. See our promises.
Last reviewed 19 Oct 2026 · Something wrong? connect@avrascan.com