Chapter 14

The project board

See what the Copilot is working on, what is finished and what is waiting for you, on a board whose cards move by themselves. Beta, switched on for testers.

What the board is

ARRIVING · Beta, switched on for testers

The board is built and is being tried by testers before it is switched on everywhere. If your rail has no Board entry, your environment does not have it yet, and nothing in this chapter can be done until it does.

The board is a page next to the chat that shows your work as cards in four columns. A card stands for a piece of real work, usually one chat. You do not have to keep it up to date: it moves by itself when something real happens in that chat (14.2). You can always move a card yourself.

[Screenshot: The project board with cards in all four columns]Figure 47

Figure 47. The project board with cards in all four columns. Capture details are item 47 in the list of screenshots to capture. Call-outs to draw: 1 Phase boxes; 2 Waiting on you column; 3 A card moved by itself and its reason; 4 Move to list; 5 Add a card box.

The four columns
Column	Means
To do	Not started.
Doing	A run is working on it.
Done	Finished.
Waiting on you	Needs a decision from you: an approval, or a run that failed.

Every card says which phase it belongs to and, when the board moved it, why (for example, "Waiting for your approval"), with the words "moved by itself". A card made from a chat also carries small links: one back to the chat, and one to each approval card or pull request that came out of it. Above the columns a line says how many cards are waiting on you.

ADVISORY

The board is yours alone. Nobody else sees it, including a team's Captain.

14.1 Start and use a board

Start with discovery

Open Board in the rail. With no project yet, press Start with discovery.
You should see A project called "My first project" appears in discovery, with one To do card.
Under the columns, choose a chat in Add a chat to this project.
You should see The chat gets a card. Run something in that chat and watch the card move; the page refreshes by itself every few seconds, so you do not need to reload.
To add a card of your own, type in the Add a card box under To do and press Add.
You should see The card appears in To do.
To take a card off the board, press Remove on it.
You should see The card goes. The chat it came from is not touched.

ADVISORY · On a phone

The columns are stacked, with Waiting on you first. Use the Move to list on a card; there is no dragging on a phone.

14.2 How cards move by themselves

A card in a chat moves only because of something that really happened, and the card says what. Nothing moves because of a guess.

What happened in the chat	The card goes to	The card says
You ran something (a new run started). A finished card is reopened.	Doing	A run started
The Copilot asked for your approval.	Waiting on you	Waiting for your approval
You approved or declined the card.	Doing	You approved, or You declined
The approval ran out (10 minutes).	Doing	The approval expired
The run failed.	Waiting on you	The run failed
You cancelled the run.	To do	The run was cancelled
The run finished.	Done	The run finished

Two things are added to the card without moving it: a link to the approval card, and a link marked "A pull request was opened" when the Copilot opened one for you. A rule only applies to a card in the right column. A card you left in Done is not moved by an approval, for example.

ADVISORY · Your move stays

When you move a card yourself it says "You moved it" and stays where you put it until something real happens in its chat.

14.3 Phases and the gate

A project has three phases, shown as three boxes above the columns. Discovery is finding out what is there and what is in the way. Design is deciding what to build. Develop is building and shipping it. The box for the phase you are in says "now", finished ones say "approved", and later ones say "not yet". A project starts in discovery.

Open the next phase

When you are satisfied with the phase, press the button above the columns, for example Discovery is complete, open Design.
You should see A question: "Move to Design? This is your go-ahead and is recorded."
Press Yes, open Design. To back out, press Not yet.
You should see The Design box says "now" and Discovery says "approved".

[Screenshot: The board's phase confirmation]Figure 48

Figure 48. The board's phase confirmation. Capture details are item 48 in the list of screenshots to capture. Call-outs to draw: 1 Confirmation question; 2 Yes, open Design; 3 Not yet.

That button is the gate. It is your go-ahead and it is recorded. Nothing else moves a phase: not the Copilot, and not a finished run.
Phases go in order: discovery, then design, then develop. You cannot skip one or open one twice. There is no gate button once a project is in develop.
A card you add has the phase the project is in now.

14.4 Move a card by keyboard, menu or mouse

Do this	To
Tab to a card (it is outlined), then press Alt and the right arrow	Move it one column to the right: To do, Doing, Done, Waiting on you. Focus stays on the card.
Alt and the left arrow	Move it one column to the left. At either end it stays put.
The Move to list on a card	Choose any other column. This also works with a screen reader and on a phone.
Drag the card with a mouse	Drop it on another column.

After each move a screen reader says, for example, "Moved Fix the nightly job to Done." If the move did not reach Cockpit, the page shows the reason and puts the card back.

Board checklist

I know the four columns and which one needs me.
I know a card moves only when something real happens, and says why.
I know that I alone open the next phase, with the button and a confirmation.
I can move a card by the Move to list, by Alt and an arrow key, or by dragging.