Kanban — Workflow

Overview

Kanban does not follow a linear approval pipeline. Instead, it provides a flexible task board where cards move freely between sections according to the team's process. The lifecycle of a card is defined by the sections the team creates — cards progress through them manually by dragging and dropping.

No fixed approval pipeline

Kanban sections and card movement are fully configurable by the team. There are no system-enforced status transitions. The team defines what each section means (e.g., To Do → In Progress → Done).

Note

For SARA's standard record lifecycle model, see: Workflows & Pipelines

Roles involved

Board member — a collaborator assigned to a board; can view the board, add and edit cards, and use calendar views.
Board editor — a collaborator with the edit permission; can also edit board settings and manage sections on non-template boards.
Kanban admin — a collaborator with the admin permission; can create and delete boards, manage templates, and edit all boards and sections regardless of template origin.

Card lifecycle

Cards do not have a fixed status field. Their state is expressed by:

Which section they are in — the team defines the meaning of each section (e.g., "To Do", "In Progress", "Done").
The completed checkbox — any user can mark a card as completed without moving it to a different section. Completed cards remain in their section and can be shown or hidden.

Typical card flow

A board member creates a card in a section (e.g., To Do), assigns collaborators, sets priority, and optionally adds dates, checklist, tags, and a parent dependency.
As work progresses, the card is dragged to the appropriate section (e.g., In Progress).
When the task is finished, the card is either moved to a done section or marked as completed using the checkbox.

Card dependencies

A card can declare a dependency on another card using the Depends on field. This links the child card's start date to the parent card's end date:

The child card's date picker enforces the parent card's end date as the earliest allowed start date.
On the board, the child card's dates are displayed in green to indicate the inherited relationship.
Changing the parent card's end date does not automatically update the child — users must review the child card manually.

Board management workflow

Publishing a board (admin only): from Board, select Publish to kiosk, then copy or open the public link. The kiosk view is read-only and can be opened without signing in. After publication, Show timeline controls whether the public view includes the timeline. Unpublish removes access through the link. These actions do not change card completion or section order.

Creating a board (admin only):

Click New Kanban and select a type (Project, Department, or Personal).
Optionally select a template to pre-populate sections.
Select the linked project or department (if applicable) and assign collaborators.
The board is created. If no template was selected, three default sections are created: To Do, In Progress, and Done.

Editing a board (edit or admin):

Board → Edit kanban opens a modal to rename the board and manage its assigned collaborators.

Deleting a board (admin only):

Deletion removes the board, all its sections, all cards within those sections, and all associated files, notes, and checklist items. This action is irreversible.

Board deletion is permanent

Deleting a board cannot be undone. All cards, files, and notes within the board are also deleted.

Template workflow

Templates define a reusable set of section names that can be applied when creating a new board.

Managing templates (admin only):

Open the Templates panel from the main header.
Create a template by entering a name and clicking Add.
Select a template in the table to manage its sections — add, rename, or delete section entries.

Applying a template:

When creating a new board, select a template from the Template dropdown.
The board is created with the template's sections instead of the default three.
On boards created from a template, section edit/delete controls are hidden for non-admin users. Only users with the admin permission can rename or delete sections on template-based boards.

Notifications

When a card is created and collaborators are assigned to it, the creator can optionally send a WhatsApp notification by checking Send notification in the New Card modal.

A WhatsApp message is sent to each assigned collaborator via the N8n integration.
Message content: "You have been assigned by [creator name] to a new Kanban card: [card title]", with a link to /kanban.
The notification is only sent at the moment of card creation. Editing an existing card and adding new assignees does not trigger a notification automatically.

Info

Email notifications exist in the system but are currently disabled. For global notification behavior, see: Notifications & Alerts

Audit logs

Changes to Kanban records are logged in SARA's standard audit log system. Logged events include:

Board created, updated, deleted.
Card created, updated, deleted.
Checklist items updated.

Logs for a specific card are visible in the Notes & Logs tab of the Edit Card modal.

Note

For the general logging system, see: Logs & History

Permissions

Access and actions are permission-driven. See: Permissions