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Work Items ​

A work item is a single piece of work your team tracks in Plane. It can be a task, a bug, a feature request, a support ticket, or anything else that has an owner and an outcome.

Every work item belongs to one project, and everything else in Plane is built around it. Cycles, modules, views, dashboards, and analytics all group, filter, or count work items.

What makes up a work item ​

Identifier ​

When you create a work item, Plane gives it an ID made of the project identifier and a number, such as WEB-142. The number goes up by one for each new work item in the project. Use the ID to refer to a work item in comments, commit messages, branch names, and search.

Title and description ​

The title is the only required field, and it can be up to 255 characters. The description is a rich text document where you write the details. It supports headings, lists, tables, code blocks, images, and mentions. Plane saves the description as you type and keeps a version history, so you can see who changed it and restore an earlier version.

Properties ​

Properties describe the state of the work. Every work item has the same set of default properties:

  • State
  • Priority
  • Assignees
  • Labels
  • Start date and due date
  • Estimate
  • Parent
  • Cycle and modules
  • Milestone, releases, and customers, when those features are on

Admins can add custom properties, such as a dropdown, a date, or a formula, to each work item type. See Work item properties for the full reference.

Type ​

A work item type sets which custom properties a work item has. A Bug type might add Severity and Environment fields, and a Feature type might add a Customer impact field. Every project has a default type, and you can switch a work item's type later. See Project work item types and Workspace work item types.

State ​

The state shows where the work item is in your process, such as Backlog, In Progress, or Done. Each project defines its own states, and each state belongs to one of five state groups: Backlog, Unstarted, Started, Completed, and Cancelled. Plane uses the state group to decide whether a work item counts as done in progress charts and whether it can be archived. See States.

How work items connect ​

A work item rarely stands alone. Plane has four ways to connect work items to each other.

ConnectionWhat it meansWhere it shows up
Parent and sub-work itemsA larger work item is broken into smaller ones. A sub-work item can sit in a different project from its parent.Parent breadcrumb and the Sub-work items section
RelationsTwo work items are related, duplicates, or one implements the other. Relations don't affect dates.The Relations section
DependenciesOne work item blocks another, or has to start or finish before it. Dependencies affect scheduling.The Relations section and the Timeline layout
Linked pagesA project or wiki page holds the spec, notes, or decisions for the work item.The Pages section

Work items also connect to the planning objects in a project:

  • A cycle is a time-boxed sprint. A work item can be in one cycle at a time.
  • A module groups work items for a feature or area. A work item can be in several modules.
  • A milestone marks a target date inside a project.
  • A release groups the work items that ship together.
  • An initiative tracks work across several projects.

Life of a work item ​

  1. Someone creates the work item, or it arrives through Intake, a template, or a recurring schedule.
  2. The team fills in its properties, assigns it, and plans it into a cycle or module.
  3. The assignee moves it through the project's states. Every change is recorded in the work item's activity, and subscribers get notified.
  4. When the work item reaches a Completed or Cancelled state, it's done. You can archive it to keep active lists short, or an automation can archive it for you.
  5. If a work item was created by mistake, you can delete it. Deleting is permanent.

Where to find work items ​

  • Project work items. Open a project and click Work items in the sidebar. Choose a layout such as List, Board, Calendar, Table, or Timeline, and narrow the list with filters or PQL.
  • Your work. Your Work lists everything assigned to you, created by you, or that you're subscribed to, across all projects.
  • Views. Views save a set of filters and display options so your team can come back to the same list.
  • Search and Power K. Press Cmd + K on Mac or Ctrl + K on Windows and Linux, then type a work item ID or title. See Power K.

Next steps ​