Add sub-tasks and dependencies
Split work into sub-tasks, mark which tasks block others and tie tasks to milestones inside a project. How they show up and what they do not do.
Sub-tasks, blockers and milestones link tasks to each other inside one project. They appear in the Sub-tasks and dependencies section of a task that belongs to a project. A task outside a project does not have them: use a checklist there.
Add a sub-task
- Open a task that is in a project, in the full edit sheet. The Sub-tasks and dependencies section is at the bottom. On a new task, add it from the + menu to set a parent or blockers before you save. Creating sub-tasks needs a task that already exists.
- Type a title under New sub-task and choose Add, or press Enter.
- Open the new sub-task from the list to give it a date, a priority or a checklist.
A sub-task is a normal task. It lives in the same project and area as its parent, keeps the parent's milestone, and starts as Todo, or Backlog in a software project. The heading shows how many are done, like "Sub-tasks · 1/3".
To turn an existing task into a sub-task, open it and pick a Parent task. The list offers the open tasks of the same project. A task cannot be placed under itself or under one of its own sub-tasks. Choose No parent to detach it.
Mark a task as blocked
Under Blocked by, choose Add a blocking task and pick a task from the same project. Remove one with its ×.
- A blocker that is not done shows a lock. A done blocker shows a check.
- While any blocker is open, the task shows a Blocked badge on its project board card.
- Blocking is a signal, not a lock. You can still complete a blocked task.
Add a milestone
When the project has milestones, a Milestone menu lets you attach the task to one. See Milestones.
How they behave
- Sub-tasks appear in your lists, on Today and on boards like any other task. Completing a parent does not complete its sub-tasks, and the other way round.
- With automatic time blocking, a Pro feature, the planner places a sub-task and leaves out a parent that still has open sub-tasks. It also schedules a blocker before the tasks it blocks, and starts those after the blocker's last block.
- Moving a task to another project clears its parent, milestone and blockers, because they only make sense inside one project.
- In a shared project, anyone who can edit the project can link tasks. A viewer cannot.
Good to know
- Sub-tasks count as tasks for XP in Game mode. Checklist items do not.
- Prior AI can propose sub-tasks when a Scrum story is too big. See Split a story.
- Assistants connected through MCP can set a parent and blockers too.
Updated 5 November 2026