Intro to Cycles
Video Placeholder Duration: 4-6 minutes Topics covered: What are cycles, creating cycles, cycle states, adding work items to cycles, cycle progress tracking
What is a Cycle?
A Cycle is a time-boxed period where your team focuses on completing specific work items. If you're familiar with Agile methodology, cycles are similar to sprints.
Cycles help teams:
- Set clear timeframes for work
- Focus on a defined set of deliverables
- Track progress toward goals
- Maintain a sustainable work rhythm
Cycle States
Cycles move through three distinct states during their lifecycle:
| State | Description |
|---|---|
| Upcoming | Future cycles — plan your next phase of work in advance |
| Active | The current cycle where work is happening (only one can be active) |
| Completed | Past cycles whose due date has passed |
Important: Only one cycle can be active at a time. Cycles cannot have overlapping dates.
Creating a Cycle
Quick Method
Press Q anywhere in your project to quickly create a new cycle.
Standard Method
- Navigate to the Cycles section in your project
- Click Add Cycle
- Fill in the details:
- Name — A descriptive title (e.g., "Sprint 1" or "January Release")
- Start Date — When the cycle begins
- Due Date — When the cycle ends
- Description — Optional context about the cycle's goals
Cycle Rules
- Two cycles cannot have overlapping dates
- Cycles are enabled by default in new projects
- You can disable cycles in Project Settings → Features
Adding Work Items to Cycles
From the Cycle Page
- Open the cycle
- Click Add Work Item
- Create a new work item or add an existing one
From the Work Item
- Open any work item
- Find the Cycle property
- Select the cycle you want to add it to
A work item can only belong to one cycle at a time.
Managing Active Cycles
Starting a Cycle Early
You can manually start an upcoming cycle before its scheduled start date.
Ending a Cycle Early
You can manually end an active cycle before its due date. However, once a cycle is ended, it cannot be restarted.
Transferring Incomplete Work
When a cycle ends with unfinished work items:
- Review the incomplete items
- Move them to an upcoming cycle
- Or move them back to the backlog
Cycle Progress Tracking
Progress Bar
Each cycle displays a progress bar showing:
- Percentage of work items completed
- Breakdown by state (Backlog, Started, Completed)
Progress Charts (Pro)
Advanced visualizations including:
- Burn-down charts — Track remaining work over time
- Build-up charts — Track completed work over time
- Color-coded indicators showing if you're ahead or behind schedule
Cycle Views
View your cycle work items in different layouts:
- List — Simple text-based view
- Board — Kanban-style columns by state
- Calendar — Work items by due date
- Timeline — Gantt chart view
Cycle Management Actions
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Archive | Hide completed cycles to reduce clutter (preserves data) |
| Delete | Permanently remove the cycle and its analytics |
| Export | Download cycle data for external reporting |
Best Practices
- Consistent duration — Many teams use 1-2 week cycles
- Don't overload — Plan realistic amounts of work
- Review and reflect — Use completed cycles to improve estimation
- Clear naming — Use descriptive names or sequential numbers
Key Takeaways
- Cycles are time-boxed periods for focused work (like sprints)
- Press
Qto quickly create a cycle - Only one cycle can be active at a time
- Cycles cannot have overlapping dates
- Track progress with the built-in progress bar and charts
- Incomplete work can be moved to future cycles
Next Steps
While cycles organize work by time, Modules organize work by topic or feature. Let's learn how to group related work items together.
Next Lesson: Intro to Modules