The backlog is where your team manages its day-to-day work. Each team has its own backlog, with customizable workflow steps that guide stories and bugs from start to finish.

---

Backlog overview

The backlog offers both list and board views, presenting key details for each story and bug, including:

• Item type and ID
• Title
• Assigned user
• Size (stories only)
• Risk rating (bugs only)
• Estimated completion dates (for items in the first workflow step)
• Staleness indicator (for items taking statistically longer than expected)

Click any item to view its full details.

Choose between list and board views to manage your backlog in the way that works best for you. Your selected view applies across all team backlogs until you change it, making it seamless to navigate between backlogs while keeping your preferred layout.

---

Access team backlogs

Quickly access the backlogs of your teams or others in your organization to stay aligned on tasks and priorities.

Your teams

Find backlogs for your teams or those where you're an admin in the Your teams section of the side menu.

Public teams

Access a public team's backlog through the team's overview page. Any workspace member can view public team backlogs.

Private teams

Only team members, team admins, and workspace Administrators can view private team backlogs.

---

Manage the backlog

Effectively managing the backlog keeps development running smoothly. Create new stories and bugs to capture work, and move them through workflow steps as they progress. This helps your team maintain accurate cycle times and estimated completion dates.

Views and layout

Adjust the view to focus on the most relevant workflow steps. In both list and board views, you can collapse or expand steps to keep the backlog manageable:

• List view: Click the arrow next to the colored circle in the section header to collapse or expand the step.
• Board view: Hover over a step name and click the collapse (><) icon to collapse the column. Collapsed columns appear as a circle and vertical bars, with each bar representing an item. Hover over the circle to see the total count, or click the circle or any bar to expand the column again.

For example, collapse sections like 'To do' and 'Done' when focusing on active work to reduce distractions. Expand them later to review completed or upcoming items.

Filter the backlog

Filter the backlog by item type to focus on just the stories or bugs your team is working on.

1. Click the filter (funnel) icon next to the team name at the top of the backlog.
2. Choose Any type, Stories, or Bugs.

Active filters appear at the top of the backlog, and the filter icon shows a badge. Steps without matching items are hidden, and item counts are updated accordingly to what's currently being displayed.

To remove a filter, click the X on the filter tag or adjust the filter settings.

⚠️

Clear filters to reorder backlog items

You can't reorder or move items between steps when filters are applied to the backlog. Clear any filters to make these actions available.

Add new items to the backlog

Add stories and bugs directly to workflow steps to keep your team’s tasks organized and up to date.

• List view: Click the plus (+) icon next to a step and choose Story or Bug.
• Board view: Hover over a column header, click the plus (+) icon, and select Story or Bug.

You can also add items inline at the bottom of a step. In list view, press Enter to quickly add additional story titles, then fill in the details later.

New items are added to the bottom of a step but can be dragged to a new position.

For more information on managing stories and bugs, see Stories and Bugs.

Move items through the workflow

To move an item from one workflow step to the next (for example, from 'To do' to 'Design'), do one of the following:

• Drag and drop: Click and drag the item to a new step.
• Select the step: Open the item's details and choose a new step. The item moves to the end of that step but can be repositioned.

Create an item in progress

Sometimes, work on an a story or bug starts before it's added to the backlog. To ensure accurate cycle time tracking, you can create items directly in an 'In progress' workflow step and specify when work began. This helps maintain reliable metrics for planning and process improvement.

1. Create a new story or bug in an in progress workflow step.
2. In the Create an item already in progress dialog, specify the Date and Time work on the item began.
3. Click Create Story or Create bug to create the item.

The cycle time for the story or bug will begin from the selected date and time once the item is created.

Assign items to a different backlog

Reassigning items ensures the right team owns the work. Move stories or bugs to another team's backlog when responsibilities change or another team is better equipped to handle them.

1. Open the item and click the team name in the side panel.
2. Select a new team.
3. Confirm your choice by clicking Change backlog.

📘

Reset size estimates

When reassigning a story, the original team's size estimate is removed. This allows the new team resize it based on their own processes and capacity, ensuring accurate planning.

Remove items from a backlog

Unassigning items from a team helps keep its backlog focused on current priorities.

1. Open the item and click the team name in the side panel.
2. Select Unassigned to team.
3. Click Unassign from team to confirm, or X to cancel.

Bugs unassigned from a team appear in Bug triage, while stories unassigned from a team move to the Unassigned to team backlog. This ensures they remain visible and ready for reassignment.

If you want to permanently remove an item from the workspace, you can delete it.