> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.junction.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Order Transactions

> Understand the importance of order transactions and how they are used.

## Order Transactions and Initial Orders

Junction uses the concept of **order transactions** to group related orders together and provide unified results.
An order transaction represents a single testing journey, which will include, at a minimum, one `initial` order.

An order transaction is created whenever a new `initial` order is created and a link is established between the two entities.

* `initial` orders are orders that are not derived from another order. This is denoted in the order's `origin` field.

* Order transactions have a `status` field, which can be `active`, `completed`, or `cancelled`.
  * `active` - one or more orders belonging to the order transaction are in progress
  * `completed` - all expected lab work for this transaction is completed and no further updates are expected
  * `cancelled` - all orders belonging to the order transaction have been cancelled

* An order can only ever belong to one order transaction

We recommend that you store both the `order_id` and `order_transaction_id` when placing an order in Junction.
Both of these IDs will be needed when implementing some of Junction's current and future features like [redraws](/lab/workflow/redraws).

## API Endpoints

The following endpoints are available to retrieve order transaction information and combined results for all orders within a transaction:

* `GET /v3/order_transaction/{order_transaction_id}` - Get an order transaction's details and list of orders
* `GET /v3/order_transaction/{order_transaction_id}/result` - Get combined results for an order transaction in JSON format
* `GET /v3/order_transaction/{order_transaction_id}/result/pdf` - Get combined results for an order transaction in PDF format

Responses for the following endpoints also include order transaction details:

* `GET /v3/orders` - Get a list of filtered orders (including the ability to filter by order transaction ID)
* `GET /v3/order/{order_id}` - Get an individual order
* `GET /v3/order/{order_id}/result` - Get an individual order's results