Skip to main content
A subtask is a task with a parent. It has its own assignee, its own due date, its own estimate and its own tracked time.

​
What is a subtask?

Subtasks let you break “Homepage wireframes” into “Sketch layouts”, “Build in Figma” and “Send for review” without inventing three separate tasks that lose their link. The hierarchy is exactly one level deep. A subtask can never have subtasks of its own.
Hierarchy here is a relationship, not containment. A subtask sits in a section like any other task, so a finished subtask can be in Done while its parent is still In progress.

​
Completion is per task

This is the rule people are most often surprised by:
  • Completing a parent does not complete its subtasks.
  • Completing every subtask does not complete the parent.
Each is an independent work item that you finish when it is finished. There is no cascade anywhere in the product.

​
Add a subtask

1

Hover the parent task's row

A + appears at the right of the row. It only shows on top-level tasks.
2

Type the subtask title

Press Enter. The subtask lands in the same section as its parent.

​
How subtasks appear

Listing a subtask in its own section is deliberate. A section is a stage, so putting a finished subtask inside a card that is still in progress would say something untrue about where the work sits.

​
Complete a subtask

Tick the checkbox in the Subtasks section, or drag the subtask’s own row or card into a Done section. Untick or drag it back to reopen it. Ticking the checkbox moves the subtask into the project’s Done section. Unticking moves it to the project’s first not-started section, or the first active one if there is none.

​
Example

“Homepage wireframes” (WR-142) on Bluebird Coffee – Website Redesign has three subtasks: The board card for WR-142 shows 1/3 subtasks done. WR-143 has its own card sitting in the Done column, with a chip naming WR-142 as its parent. WR-142 itself is still In progress, and stays there until Priya moves it.

​
Options and settings

A subtask carries every field a task does – priority, dates, tags, estimate, comments, attachments and its own tracked time.

​
What happens next

  • The subtask is appended after the last task in its section.
  • It gets its own task number from the same project sequence, so parents and subtasks share one numbering run.
  • Its hours are its own. A section’s total time is the flat sum of the tasks in it, so nothing is double counted.

​
Permissions

Owner, Admin, Project Manager, Member and Contractor can create and edit. Deleting stops at Project Manager. See /tasks/task-permissions.

​
Common questions

No. The limit is one level. The + for adding a subtask does not appear on a subtask row, and the server refuses it as well.
Not in the list or on the board. Each row shows its own tracked time, and a section total is the flat sum of the tasks in it, so the header always equals the rows.
No. Move the parent – the subtasks travel with it and are re-stamped with new task numbers in the target project.
They go to Trash with it, and come back with it if you restore. See /tasks/delete-and-restore-a-task.
Yes. Duplicate copies the task and its subtasks, one level, into the same section.
The Tasks page is a day plan of top-level work. Open the parent task to work through its steps.

​
Troubleshooting

You are hovering a subtask, not a parent. Subtasks cannot be nested.
The project has no section with the Done category, so there is nowhere to move the subtask to. A message says “No workflow stage is configured for this action.” Set a section’s category in the project List tab.
Check whether it was deleted. Deleted tasks go to Trash and stop counting. See /settings/trash.

Task views

Why subtasks get their own row and card.

Task numbers

Parents and subtasks share one sequence.

Task dependencies

Blockers are a different relationship.

Project sections

A section is a stage, not a container.

Bulk actions

Duplicating copies subtasks too.