Subtask

A subtask is a smaller piece of work nested inside a parent task. If the parent card is "Ship the settings page," its subtasks might be "build the form," "wire the save endpoint," and "add validation." Subtasks turn one board card into a small checklist, so you can track step-by-step progress without creating a separate card for every micro-step and flooding the board.

Subtask vs. separate task

The dividing line is visibility. A task is something worth seeing on the board as its own card — it has a state, an assignee, maybe a due date. A subtask is an implementation detail of that card: it doesn't need its own column position, it just needs a checkbox. If a subtask starts needing its own assignee and deadline, it has probably outgrown subtask status and should become a real task.

One level, not infinite nesting

Good task tools cap nesting at one level: tasks have subtasks, and subtasks don't have sub-subtasks. Unlimited nesting recreates the complexity that boards exist to avoid — you end up with a tree you have to expand and collapse instead of a glanceable board. One level keeps the detail available without letting structure metastasize.

When subtasks earn their place

Subtasks shine for tasks that span a few days and have clear sequential steps. They give you a sense of progress ("3 of 5 done") on a card that would otherwise sit in In Progress as an opaque blob. For tasks you'll finish in one sitting, a subtask checklist is more overhead than it's worth — just do the thing.

How GritShip handles this

GritShip supports one level of subtasks as a Pro feature: each parent card can hold a checklist of subtasks, and the parent shows completion progress at a glance. There's deliberately no deeper nesting — one level keeps the board readable while still letting you decompose multi-step work.