Workstreams

Workstreams group related actions inside a project so you can review progress by area, filter the action list, and read health on the project Overview. They are separate from tags: tags are flexible labels on individual actions; workstreams are named buckets that roll up open work, phases, and snapshot health.

Who can do what

• Owners and Editors can create and manage workstreams, set a color, set tag-based classification rules, assign unclassified actions, merge workstreams, and override inferred phases from the overview.
• Viewers can see workstream health on the overview and filter actions by workstream, but cannot change definitions or assignments. See Roles and billing seats.

Using workstreams day to day

Project overview

Open a project and choose Overview. After the status bar and KPIs, Workstream health is the primary body section — one card per workstream with a status (for example On track, Clear, At risk, Blocked, or Quiet), open action count, and current phase. Editors can assign a color from the card so streams are easier to tell apart; health badges stay independent of that color. Cards can also show Going quiet or Blocked by dependency when those signals apply, even if another status is dominant. A workstream with no open actions shows as Clear rather than On track. Attention filters and Needs intervention follow below; the latest project brief appears last when one exists.

• Click a card to open the project actions list filtered to that workstream.
• The Status badge at the top is the project: On track, At risk, or Off track, with the reason beside it. Workstream cards keep their own labels (On track, Clear, At risk, Blocked, Quiet). The bar may also show a dominant phase when workstreams agree (for example Executing or Mixed · Deciding lead).
• Needs intervention shows the top priorities that need a decision or chase — the first two are visible by default, with the rest behind Show more. Rows may include a workstream name when an action is assigned or can be inferred from tags.

Phases (Discovering → Verifying)

Each workstream's phase is inferred from its actions during snapshot computation — for example many items without target dates lean toward Discovering; a high done ratio toward Verifying. Phases are a read on momentum, not something you set on every action.

Editors can override a workstream's phase from the card menu on the overview when the inferred phase does not match reality (for example while reporting upward). Overrides are labeled on the card. Remove an override from the same menu to return to automatic inference.

Assign or change workstream on an action

On an action's detail page, use the Workstream dropdown to assign the action to a workstream or set it to none. If the action has no assignment but matches a tag-based rule, a suggested workstream may appear — click it to accept the suggestion (which creates a manual assignment).

Filter the action list

In project Actions, use the workstream: search token to slice by workstream name, or workstream:unclassified for actions with no effective workstream. Matching uses manual assignment first, then tag-rule classification. Full syntax is in Action search syntax.

Managing workstreams (Owners and Editors)

Open the project menu (⋯) and choose Manage Workstreams, or use Manage workstreams in the overview workstream section header. The admin page has three tabs:

• Workstreams — create workstreams, add a standing description, set a color, rename, reorder, delete, and configure tag-based classification rules (see below). Critical path and On scorecard are separate: a workstream can be reported to the board without being on the critical path. On scorecard chooses which rows appear on the weekly scorecard. Deleting a workstream unclassifies its actions; it does not delete the actions themselves.
• Unclassified — list open actions with no manual workstream assignment. Where tag rules apply, a suggested workstream is pre-selected; you can override the dropdown and click Assign.
• Merge — move all actions from one workstream into another and delete the source. Useful after renaming schemes or cleaning up duplicates.

Color

Each workstream can have an optional color (or none). The color fills the overview card. Pick from eight theme-aware colors in the card menu or on Manage workstreams. The same color works in light and dark appearance.

Standing description

Each workstream can have an optional short description (up to 600 characters). Use it for facts that stay true for months: which cards belong together, a launch window, or that a programme is parked. The weekly leadership brief reads this as standing context next to recent action updates.

• Do write relatedness and constraints (“DTAC, DSPT, and Cyber Essentials are one assurance package”).
• Do not write this week’s waits, owners, or progress — those belong on action updates.
• Action dependencies mean blocked, not related. Meeting notes still extract onto actions; they are not a second knowledge page.

Tag-based classification rules

On the Workstreams tab, each row has a tag icon when the project has tags defined (Manage tags in the project menu). Pick one or more project tags that should auto-classify unassigned actions into that workstream.

• Tag rules apply only to actions that do not already have a manual workstream assignment.
• A manual assignment on the action detail page (or from the Unclassified tab) always wins over tag rules until you clear it (set workstream to none).
• If an action has multiple tags linked to different workstreams, classification uses the first matching rule the system resolves — avoid assigning the same tag to more than one workstream when possible.
• For snapshots, search, and suggestions, tag rules classify unassigned actions automatically. The action detail workstream dropdown still shows none until you assign explicitly or accept a suggestion — that assignment is what persists and takes priority over tag rules afterward.

Tags and workstreams solve different problems: tags are great for cross-cutting labels (meeting type, risk, system); workstreams are for stable areas of the project (teams, deliverables, programs). Many teams align tag rules with tags they already use for filtering — for example tag Platform classifies into a Platform workstream — but that coupling is optional.

How snapshots use workstreams

Workstream health cards, phases, open counts, and blocked/stale rollups come from periodic project snapshots. After you change assignments or workstream definitions, counts refresh when the next snapshot runs or when you capture or refresh from the overview. Unclassified open actions still appear in snapshot totals but are not attributed to a named workstream until assigned or matched by a tag rule.

Automation and integrations

AI assistants connected via MCP can list workstreams, assign actions, update tag rules, merge workstreams, and fetch unclassified suggestions. See AI assistant integration (MCP).

Related: Understanding actions (tags and fields), Action search syntax (workstream: filter).