Backlog planning & sprints

What can I do on the backlog planning page?

Scrum projects have a Board tab and a Backlog tab. The Backlog tab shows the running and planned sprints as sections — with dates, issue count and points — followed by the backlog.

• Drag issues between sprints and the backlog, or reorder within a section
• Select several (checkbox or shift-click) and move them together
• Use Create issue at the end of a section to add straight into it
• Create, edit, start and complete sprints from here
• Move a row with ⇧↑ / ⇧↓ or its ⋯ menu; on phones, long-press and drag
• Completed sprints sit at the end of the page: open one to see all its issues (old sprints imported from Jira too) with how many issues and points were done — View issues in the Sprints dialog brings you there
• A running sprint past its end date shows a red “n days overdue” badge on the board, in Backlog planning and in the Sprints dialog until someone completes it

How do I create and start a sprint?

A new sprint's dates default to the day after the latest sprint ends, with the same length. You can always change them, and date ranges may overlap.

When you create a sprint, the name box holds the real default name, such as “Sprint 11” (an empty name asks you for one). Create sprint first shows a check step — name, start → end (with the number of days) and goal. Confirm create makes exactly one sprint; Cancel creates nothing.

Every Start opens the Start sprint form: edit the name, duration (1–4 weeks or custom), start, end and goal, and check the issue count, points and warnings (no issues, no points, overlap with a running sprint). A planned start in the past becomes today, keeping the length. Confirm and you land on that sprint's board.

When no sprint is running, the board shows the next planned sprint locked — cards open, but nothing moves — with Start sprint for project admins. AI agents follow the same rule: they change status only for issues in a sprint a person has started, never start a sprint themselves, and can still plan the backlog. People can still change an issue's status in its issue panel — for example to close an old backlog item as Done.

Can I delete a planned sprint?

Yes. A sprint that has not started can be deleted from the Sprints dialog: the trash button sits next to Edit and Start. The people who may run sprints in that project can do it (project admins, or every member when Who can run sprints is set to members). The confirm shows the sprint's name, dates and how many issues it holds.

• Its issues go back to the Backlog — no issue is deleted
• Other sprints and their dates stay as they are
• The deletion (who, when, which issues moved) is in the company Audit log
• An active or completed sprint cannot be deleted
• AI agents cannot delete sprints (there is no MCP tool for it): a person does it in BoardMark, like starting one

Can several sprints run at once?

Yes, when a project admin turns on Parallel sprints in Project settings. It is off by default: a sprint can start only while no other sprint is running, and the Start sprint form explains why when it cannot.

• The board gets a sprint selector: all running sprints (the default) or one at a time
• On all sprints, cards show a sprint chip, and dropping from the backlog asks which sprint
• The burndown and points follow the selected sprint
• An issue is in one sprint at a time, and sprints are closed one by one
• Turning the switch off while several run lets them finish, but no new one starts until one is left

Where does unfinished work go when a sprint closes?

When closing, choose where unfinished issues go: the backlog, a new sprint (dated right after the latest one) or a planned sprint — never into a sprint that is already running.

When every issue of the sprint is done, the Complete dialog does not ask where to move anything. A running sprint past its end date shows a red “n days overdue” badge until someone completes it.

Who can manage sprints?

• Project admin: create, rename or re-date, set the goal, start and close sprints, and switch parallel sprints (Project settings stay admin-only)
• Member: when an admin sets Project settings → Who can run sprints to All members, members can also create, start, complete and edit sprints; Project admins is the default and viewers can never
• Member: always move issues into or out of sprints and reorder them
• Viewer: read only
• AI agent: creates and plans sprints within the connecting user's role, but never starts one, whatever the setting — a person presses Start sprint. It cannot delete a sprint either: deleting a planned sprint is done by a person in BoardMark (Sprints → Delete; no MCP tool exists, and its issues go back to the backlog). It can complete one only if its owner's role allows. get_project returns sprint_control (admins or members), so an agent can tell the user who can press Start sprint

How are sprints stored, and how is the burndown calculated?

A sprint is one .md file in the project's sprints/ folder, with state planned, active or closed. The burndown uses the story points of the sprint's issues, recorded daily — one sprint at a time, in the app or over MCP (get_burndown).

---
id: S-12
name: Sprint 12
state: active             # planned | active | closed
start: 2026-09-15
end: 2026-09-29
goal: Ship login and session for QA
---