Planning Series Automation
A Planning Series is the planning calendar used by your board, which is a sequence of Planning Increments you assign to cards to organize and plan work over time. Many organizations nest increments (for example, a PI with sprints inside it). Your series names and structure may differ, but the pattern is the same: cards can be assigned to one or more increments, and sometimes to increments from more than one Planning Series on the board.
Assigning a card a Planning Increment
If increment assignments aren’t actively monitored, they can drift and throw off filters and reporting. Card Automation helps by applying your Planning Series calendar on a schedule or at card events so assignments stay current without a weekly manual chore.
Because planning increments can be nested, you are also asked to specify top-level or sub-level so date rules and actions apply to the increment you intend, not the wrong layer of the calendar.
|
Term |
Meaning |
Often referred as ... |
|
Top-level |
The increment at the top of the series hierarchy |
The PI (program/quarter bucket) |
|
Sub-level |
A nested increment under a top-level increment |
A sprint |
Example: One quarterly PI (top-level) with two-week sprints (sub-level) underneath.
Why this matters
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Date rules (start/end “days ago” or “from now”) run against increments at the level you specify. Use Sub-level when the use case is about sprints; use Top-level when it is about the PI.
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Move to next advances along the Planning Series order at the level you chose. On the last sprint under a PI, “next” can be the next PI or its first nested increment.
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A card can have both a PI and a sprint assigned; pick the level that matches what you are automating (sprint rollover vs PI change).
Card Automation Basics
Every automation has three parts:
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When to run: What event starts the check (for example, a card moves, or a scheduled run).
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Criteria : Which cards qualify (lanes, status, Planning Increment rules, and more).
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Action: What happens next (change increment, move card, clear increment, and so on).
See below for example use cases, and what criteria and actions to apply.
Example Use Cases
|
# |
Use Case |
When it runs |
What it does |
|
1 |
Scheduled |
Unfinished cards move to the next sprint when the current sprint ends |
|
|
2 |
Scheduled |
Backlog cards move into an active lane when the sprint starts |
|
|
3 |
Card moved |
Removes increment assignment when work hits Done |
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4 |
Card created |
New cards get today’s sprint automatically |
Use Case 1: Sprint rollover
Use when: Unfinished work should move to the next sprint when the current sprint’s end date has passed.
Step 1 — When to run
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Event type: Scheduled Time
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Recurrence: Weekly
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Day/time: Choose a weekday that follows your usual sprint end cadence (for example, Monday after a Friday sprint end), or select every day to evaluate every day. Uses your local desktop’s time zone.
Step 2 — Criteria
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Card lanes: Open/active only (exclude Finished)
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Planning Increments: Has an increment assigned
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Planning Increment Level (for date rules): Sub-level because you are rolling over to the next sprint, not the next increment.
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Planning Increment end date: Is less than this number of days ago → 7 if running once weekly
Step 3 — Action
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Action type: Set Planning Increment
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Mode: Move to next planning increment
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Level: Sub-level
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Shift Mode:
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Keep current planning increments and add the adjacent one, to maintain history of all targeted sprints on the card
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Replace current planning increments, to represent the latest sprint the card is completed on
Tips
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If the sprint that ended is the last sprint under a PI, cards will be added to the next planning series increment (for example the next PI or the first sprint under it).
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For Daily schedule: select all Days of the Week + end date 0 days ago.
Use Case 2: Sprint start pull
Use when: You use a lane for active sprint work and want backlog cards pulled in when the sprint starts.
Step 1 — When to run
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Event type: Scheduled Time
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Recurrence: Weekly
-
Day/time: Choose a weekday that follows your usual sprint end cadence (for example, Monday after a Friday sprint end), or select every day to evaluate every day. Uses your local desktop’s time zone.
Step 2 — Criteria
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Lanes: Your specified backlog lane
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Planning Increments: Has an increment assigned
-
Planning Increment Level (for date rules): Sub-level because you are pulling cards into a new sprint, not the next increment.
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Planning Increment start date: Is less than this number of days ago → 7 if running once weekly
Step 3 — Action
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Action type: Move Card
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Destination Board/Lane: Your active work lane (for example, “In Progress”)
Tips
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For Daily schedule: select all Days of the Week + end date 0 days ago.
Use Case 3: Clear increment when done
Use when: Finished cards should not keep increment assignment on reports and views.
Step 1 — When to run
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Event type: Card Moved to Lane
Step 2 — Criteria
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Lanes: Lane that represents finished
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Increment assignment: Has at least one planning increment
Step 3 — Action
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Action type: Set Planning Increment
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Mode: Clear planning increments
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Level: Select "All levels" to completely remove all series from card.
Use Case 4: Assign new cards with current sprint
Use when: Every new card should be assigned to whichever sprint is active today.
Step 1 — When to run
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Event type: Card Created
Step 2 — Criteria
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Lanes: Target newly created cards in specific lanes
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Planning Increment: No increment assigned
Step 3 — Action
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Action type: Set Planning Increment
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Mode: Set to current planning increment
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Planning Series: Select the applicable current planning increments defined for the board
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Level: Sub-level because you are assigning at the sprint level
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Update Mode: Add selection to existing planning increments