The Backlog is where Product Owners and Scrum teams plan upcoming work before it moves into execution. For Scrum teams, the backlog is organized around sprints—allowing you to prioritize work, schedule items into iterations, and manage what’s coming next.

Once work is committed to a sprint and moves into execution, it appears on the In progress page.

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What's included

The Backlog shows a Scrum team's current and upcoming sprints, including their dates and total story points. Unscheduled items appear below all defined sprints, ready to be assigned to future sprints.

The Backlog contains the items assigned to the team, which may be stories or bugs, depending on the type of work being planned.

Each item shows key details, such as:

• Item type and ID
• Title
• Optional settings (for more details, see Backlog settings):
  • Product themes
  • Pull requests (requires the GitHub integration)
  • Risk rating (bugs only)
  • Story size (stories only)
  • Timeboxes
  • Total story points

If no sprints are defined yet, the backlog appears as a simple prioritized list.

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Access the Backlog

You can open a team’s backlog from the Your teams section of the sidebar if you're a member of that team.

1. Click a team name to expand its menu.
2. Select Backlog to open the planning page for that team.

A separate team icon next to the team’s name opens the Team overview, where you can see members, stakeholders, and other administrative information.

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Backlog settings

Choose which item details to display in the list.

1. Click the Settings (gear icon) menu in the header.
2. Select or clear the checkboxes to control what's displayed:
   • Product themes – which product theme each item belongs to.
   • Pull requests – any linked GitHub pull requests (requires the GitHub integration).
   • Risk rating – the bug's risk on a scale of 1 to 25, with 25 representing the highest risk
   • Story size – the story's estimated shirt size, from XXS to XXL.
   • Timeboxes – which timebox the item is included in.

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Manage the backlog

Backlog activities are commonly shared across Scrum roles. Product Owners typically focus on prioritization and backlog readiness, while Scrum teams focus on sprint planning and execution. Teams may assign responsibilities differently.

Filter the backlog

Use filters to narrow the backlog to items that match specific criteria, such as ownership, timebox, or update date. Filtering the backlog helps Product Owners and Scrum team members focus on relevant work during planning, refinement, or review.

1. Use the icons at the top of the page to choose whether to show Stories, Bugs, or both. At least one must be selected to display any items.
2. Click Filter by at the top of the backlog.
3. Select one of the available filters and fill in any required details.
4. Click Done.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 to add additional filters as needed.

The list updates to display only items matching criteria from all filters.

For multi-select filters, items matching any of the selected values are included. For example, selecting multiple users in the Assignee filter includes items assigned to any of those users.

Active filters appear at the top of the backlog.

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

Available filters

*When using the Created andLast updated filters, you can specify absolute or relative date ranges and include the time of day to narrow your search further. For details, see Filtering by date and time.

Create a sprint

Scrum teams create sprints to define the scope and timeframe for upcoming work.

1. Below your list of sprints, click Create sprint.
2. In the Create sprint dialog:
   • Enter a unique name for the sprint.
     • If your previous sprint ended with a number (for example, Sprint 3) Atono suggests the next number (Sprint 4). If this is your first sprint, the default name is Sprint 1.
   • Set the start and end dates.
     • The default sprint length is two weeks, starting the day after the previous sprint ends.
     • The dialog shows the number of weekdays in the sprint as you adjust dates.
   • Optionally add a description.
3. Click Create sprint.

The new sprint appears in the backlog, ready to add items.

Sprint constraints:

• Sprints can't overlap—dragging dates is bounded by adjacent sprints.
• Sprints are encouraged to be contiguous, with no gaps between them.

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Changing sprint scope

If you modify the scope of a sprint that's in progress, you'll see warning that the burndown chart will be updated to reflect the change.

Delete a sprint

Scrum teams can delete sprints that are no longer needed during planning.

1. Click the ellipsis (...) icon next to the sprint name.
2. Select Delete sprint.
3. In the Delete sprint dialog, confirm by clicking Delete sprint.

When you delete a sprint, all items in it move to the Unscheduled section of the backlog, retaining their order.

Expand and collapse sprints

Focus on what matters by collapsing sprints you're not actively planning:

• Click the arrow next to a sprint name to collapse or expand it.
• Use Collapse all or Expand all in the header to manage all sprints at once.
• When dragging an item onto a collapsed sprint, it automatically expands.

Use the Jump to unscheduled shortcut at the top of the page to quickly navigate to items that aren't assigned to any sprint.

Add items to the backlog

Adding items to the backlog ensures upcoming work is visible, prioritized, and ready for future sprint planning. This is typically led by the Product Owner, with input from the Scrum team.

Create new items

You can create new items directly from the backlog or add them to a sprint as you plan upcoming work.

Create unscheduled items

To create a new item that isn’t yet assigned to a sprint:

• Use Create new in the main left-hand navigation to create a story in the To do workflow step and assign it to a team. The item appears at the bottom of the Unscheduled section of the team’s backlog.
• Hover above the first item or below the last item in the Unscheduled section to add a new story to the top or bottom of the list.

Create items in a sprint:

1. Click the + icon in the sprint header.
2. Select Story or Bug.
3. Fill out the draft and click Create. The item is added to the bottom of the sprint.

Add existing items

You can move an existing item from Story refinement, Bug triage, or another team to your backlog, typically during backlog refinement or planning.

1. Open the item.
2. In the details panel, click the Team field and ensure the item is in the To do workflow step.
3. Select the team and confirm.

The item appears at the bottom of the Unscheduled section of that team's backlog.

For teams with backlog management enabled, Backlog Owners are responsible for adding stories to the backlog. Team members can create and manage bugs regardless of this setting.

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Backlog owner is a workspace role and may not map directly to scrum roles.

Add items to sprints

During sprint planning, Scrum teams assign backlog items to specific sprints to define what will be delivered.

Drag and drop:

• Drag an item from the Unscheduled section into a sprint.
• Drag an item from one sprint to another.
• Items can be positioned anywhere within a sprint to set priority.

Via sprint detail view:

1. Click the ellipsis (...) icon next to the sprint's name and select View sprint details.
2. Use the search box to find and add items to the sprint.
3. Click the X icon next to an item to remove it from the sprint.

Reorder items

Reordering items reflects backlog priority, which is typically maintained by the Product Owner.

• Drag and drop: Click and drag an item up or down within its sprint or the Unscheduled section.
• Move to top: Right-click an item and choose Move to top to bring it to the top of its section.

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You can't reorder items while filters are applied. Clear filters first to adjust priority.

Right-click actions

Right-click any item in the backlog for quick actions:

• Create before - Create a new item directly before the selected item.
• Create after - Create a new item directly after the selected item.
• Move to top - Move the selected item to the top of its section.
• Duplicate - Create a copy of the item, including its title, description, and other details.
• Delete - Permanently remove the item from your workspace (confirmation required).

Remove or reassign items

When priorities or ownership change, items can be reassigned or removed from a backlog to ensure the right team owns the work.

If the destination team has Backlog management enabled, you must have the Backlog owner role on that team to assign a story to it.

If an item no longer belongs to a team, you can remove it from the backlog.

Remove an item from a backlog

1. Open the item and click the team name in the side panel.
2. Select No team.
3. In the Unassign from team dialog, confirm by clicking Unassign from team, or X to cancel

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

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

Assign an item to a different backlog

1. Open the item and click the team name in the side panel.
2. Select a new team.
3. In the Change backlog dialog, confirm your choice by clicking Change backlog or click X to cancel.

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Reset size estimates

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