> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.collabase.ch/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
> Tasks are the fundamental unit of work in Projects. Learn how to create, triage, link, and close tasks effectively.
# Tasks
# Tasks
A task represents a single unit of work — a feature request, bug report, support ticket, review item, or anything else your team needs to track. Every task lives inside a Project and has a structured set of fields that make it searchable, assignable, and automatable.
## Task fields
| Field | Description |
| ----------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Key** | Auto-generated identifier (e.g., `PROJ-42`). Unique within the project and permanent. |
| **Title** | Required. Short description of the work. |
| **Status** | Current workflow state (e.g., Todo, In Progress, In Review, Done). Configured per project. |
| **Type** | Task type — Task, Bug, Story, Epic, or custom types defined by your admin. |
| **Priority** | `CRITICAL`, `HIGH`, `MEDIUM`, `LOW`, or `NONE`. |
| **Assignee** | The team member responsible for the task. |
| **Reporter** | Who created or submitted the task. Set automatically on creation. |
| **Parent** | Links this task as a subtask under a parent task. |
| **Sprint** | The sprint this task belongs to. Empty means it is in the backlog. |
| **Group** | Swimlane grouping field used on the board. |
| **Story Points** | Numeric effort estimate used for sprint velocity tracking. |
| **T-shirt Size** | Relative size estimate: XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL. |
| **Time Estimate** | Planned effort in hours. |
| **Start Date** | When work on the task is expected to begin. Used on the Roadmap. |
| **Due Date** | Deadline. Overdue tasks are flagged in all views. |
| **Labels** | Free-form tags for filtering and grouping. |
| **Description** | Full rich-text body — supports headings, code blocks, images, tables, callouts, and mentions. |
| **Custom Fields** | Additional fields configured by your admin for specific task types. |
## Creating a task
Navigate to your Space, select the project, and open any view — Board, List, Backlog, or Sprint.
Click **+ New Task** in the top bar, or press **N** anywhere in the project to open the quick-create form.
Title is required. Type defaults to the project's default task type. All other fields are optional and can be updated later. If the project uses estimation, an estimate field (story points, T-shirt size, or hours, depending on the project's method) is available here so you can size the task as you create it.
Press **Enter** or click **Create**. The task is created and appears in the first status column on the board.
## Task detail view
Click any task to open its full detail view. The detail view is organized into sections:
| Section | What it contains |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Description** | Rich-text editor (Plate.js). Edits auto-save when you click away. |
| **Comments** | Threaded comments with @mentions, reactions, and rich text. Mark each comment as Internal or External. |
| **Attachments** | Files attached directly to the task. Drag-and-drop or browse to upload. |
| **Activity log** | Full change history — who changed what, and when. Every field update is recorded. |
| **Subtasks** | Child tasks nested under this task. Create subtasks directly from the detail view. |
| **Linked tasks** | Tasks connected by a relationship type (see below). |
| **Custom fields** | Task type-specific fields shown in the right sidebar. |
| **Time log** | Time entries logged against this task (if time tracking is enabled). |
When you add a subtask to a task that is already in a sprint, the subtask can follow its parent into that sprint. Whether this happens automatically, or you are asked first, depends on the project's sprint settings — see [Sprints](/projects/sprints#subtasks-and-sprints).
## Comments: Internal vs. External
Every comment has a visibility setting:
| Setting | Who can see it |
| ------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Internal** | Team members only. Hidden from the Customer Portal. Use this for team-only discussion. |
| **External** | Visible to both team members and external customers via the Customer Portal. |
Default visibility is Internal. Switch before posting if the comment is intended for the customer.
## Subtasks
Subtasks are tasks nested under a parent task. They have all the same fields as a regular task.
To add a subtask, open a task's detail view and click **+ Add Subtask**. The new subtask is linked to the parent and inherits the same project and sprint.
Where subtasks show up depends on the view:
| View | How subtasks appear |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Work Items** | Collapsed under their parent. Click the arrow at the start of a parent row to show them, indented one level. |
| **Board** | As their own cards, alongside every other task. |
Searching or filtering Work Items switches the table to a flat list of matches, so a matching subtask is shown on its own even when its parent does not match.
## Linked tasks
Link tasks to show relationships between them. Four link types are available:
| Link type | Meaning |
| -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Depends on** | This task cannot proceed until the linked task is complete. |
| **Blocks** | This task is blocking the linked task from proceeding. |
| **Relates to** | Related context — no dependency implied. |
| **Duplicates** | This task is a duplicate of the linked task. |
To add a link, open a task → **Linked Tasks** section → click **+ Add Link**, choose the type, and search for the task to link.
## Integration panels
The task detail view includes integration panels that provide context from other parts of Collabase without leaving the task. Click the icons in the top bar of the task to open a panel on the right side.
| Panel | When it appears | What it shows |
| ---------- | --------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Time** | When time tracking is enabled for the space | Logged time entries for this task. Start a timer, log time manually, or review the time history. |
| **GitHub** | When the GitHub integration is active | Branches and pull requests linked to this task. Create a branch or PR directly from the panel. |
| **Tests** | When Test Management is enabled for the space | Test cases that cover this task, and the test milestone this task is associated with. |
Click the active panel icon a second time to close the panel and return to the activity feed.
### Test Management panel
The Tests panel shows two things:
1. **Linked test cases** — the test cases in your Test Management module that cover this task. These are set from the test case's edit form. Click the external link icon next to a case to open Test Management.
2. **Test milestone** — the milestone this task is associated with. Use the dropdown to link the task to a milestone or switch it to a different one. Click × to remove the association.
Updating the milestone from the Tests panel requires the **Edit Task** permission. Viewing the panel requires the **View Test Results** permission.
## Keyboard shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
| ------------------ | ------------------------- |
| `N` | Create a new task |
| `T` | Open the task type picker |
| `S` | Change the task's status |
| `A` | Assign the task |
| `Cmd/Ctrl + Enter` | Save a comment |
## Bulk actions
Bulk actions are not available yet. This section describes the planned behaviour and is kept here as a reference; the Work Items table currently has no selection checkboxes.
Once available, you will select multiple work items using the checkbox in the Work Items view, then use the bulk action bar to apply changes to all selected items at once:
| Action | Description |
| ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Update status** | Move all selected tasks to a new status. |
| **Update assignee** | Reassign all selected tasks to a different team member. |
| **Update priority** | Set the same priority on all selected tasks. |
| **Move to sprint** | Assign all selected tasks to a sprint. |
| **Delete** | Permanently delete all selected tasks. |
Bulk delete is permanent and cannot be undone. Confirm the selection before proceeding.
## Moving a work item to another project
A work item can be moved to a different project, including a project in another Space. Open the work
item, then choose **Move work item** from the menu in the top right. The entry appears only if your
role includes the **Move tasks** permission.
The move runs in three steps.
Search for the target project. Only projects you may create work items in are listed. Then pick
the work item type it should use there. The type decides which workflow applies, and therefore
which statuses you can map onto in the next step.
Each status currently in use gets a destination column. Collabase preselects a column with the
same name, or failing that one in the same state. Any custom field values the destination
cannot show are listed here, so you see what will be set aside before you commit.
The summary shows how many items will move and how many field values will be archived. Confirm
to run the move.
### What changes
| Item | Result |
| ----------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Key | The work item gets a new key in the destination project |
| Sub-items | Move along with the parent, each with its own new key |
| Comments, attachments, checklists, time entries | Move with the work item |
| Cycle, group and service category | Cleared, because they belong to the old project |
| Labels, versions and test milestones | Cleared only when moving to another Space |
| Assignee | Kept. You are warned if that person cannot see the destination Space |
| Custom field values | Kept where the destination shows the same field, archived otherwise |
The old key keeps working. Links in comments, notifications and bookmarks continue to open the
work item at its new location, and the old key is never reused by another item.
A move cannot be undone in one action. Archived field values are stored and can be recovered by an
administrator, but moving the item back does not restore them automatically.
## Custom fields
Custom fields extend the standard field set with fields specific to your workflow. They are configured by an admin and attached to task types. The following field types are available:
Text, Textarea, Select, Multi-select, User, Multi-user, Date, Checkbox, Number, Rating, Progress, Location, Registry Object, Relation, Object Relation, Priority, URL, Email, Phone, Currency.
Custom field values appear in the right sidebar of the task detail view. Admins configure which fields apply to which task types under **Settings → Fields & Task Types**.
***
## Who can do what with tasks
Task actions are controlled by the space's Permission Scheme. The table below shows the defaults — your space may use a custom scheme with different settings.
| Action | Space Admin | Manager | Member | Viewer |
| ---------------------- | ----------- | ------- | ------ | ------ |
| View tasks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Create tasks | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Edit any task | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Delete tasks | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Clone tasks | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Assign tasks | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Transition task status | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Link tasks | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Write comments | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Edit own comments | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Edit any comment | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Delete own comments | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Delete any comment | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Upload attachments | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Delete own attachments | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Delete any attachment | Yes | Yes | No | No |
If you see a "Forbidden" error when trying to perform an action, your space role does not include that permission under the current scheme. Contact your Space Admin to adjust your role or the scheme.