How do task statuses and the kanban board work?
Last verified October 18, 2026
Each status your team defines becomes a column on the Tasks kanban board, and dragging a card to another column changes its status. Statuses marked Done count toward completion; statuses marked Cancelled are left out of the percentage.
The default statuses
A new team starts with four statuses. You can rename, recolour, reorder or delete any of them.
| Status | Counts as |
|---|---|
| Not Started | Open work |
| In Progress | Open work |
| Complete | Done |
| Cancelled | Cancelled |
A status can carry one of two flags. Done means a task in it is finished: it gets a completion date, stops showing as overdue and counts toward your completion percentage. Cancelled means the task is closed but is left out of the percentage entirely. A status can't be both.
Using the board
- Open Tasks. The board opens on the Kanban view (you can switch to List or Gantt with the view toggle).
- Drag a card into another column to change its status. With the keyboard, focus a card's title and press Alt/Option plus the left or right arrow.
- Hover a column and click New task at the bottom to add a task straight into it.
You can also group the board by something other than status. Use the Columns menu in the board header to pick Status, Priority, Assignee, Subteam or Subsystem. Dragging a card then changes that field. The Columns menu is hidden on narrow phone screens.
Moving cards and adding tasks needs the Manage tasks permission. The Default role has it, so most members can.
Column menu
Click the settings icon on a column header for:
- Add a task here
- Set a limit: the most tasks the column should hold. The count turns into "3/5" style and flags when you go over.
- Hide from view: a Show 1 hidden column link (or however many) appears under the board to bring them back.
Limits and hidden columns are saved in your browser, per team. They don't change the board for anyone else.
Managing statuses
Adding, renaming, recolouring, reordering and deleting statuses needs the Manage tags permission. If you have it, you'll see:
- Manage statuses at the end of the board (status view only)
- Rename & recolor, Move left, Move right and Delete column in each column's menu
- The same list under Settings, then Tags, in the Task statuses section, with the Done and Cancelled checkboxes
Renaming a status carries every task in it along to the new name. Deleting a status moves its tasks into another of your statuses. A team has to keep at least one status, so the last one can't be deleted.