Epics, initiatives, milestones and versions

You will learn how Tixio organizes work above individual issues.

Use these planning layers when a single issue is not enough to explain scope, progress, or delivery intent:

Epics group related issues under a larger outcome.
Initiatives group epics across a workspace.
Milestones group issues toward a date-pinned target.
Versions group project issues for a release.

For step-by-step instructions, read Manage epics and initiatives and Plan releases with milestones and versions.

The planning hierarchy

The most common hierarchy is:

Initiative
  Epic
    Issue
      Sub-task

An initiative is the broadest layer. It can contain epics from multiple projects in the workspace.

An epic is an issue with type Epic. It belongs to one project, has an issue key like any other issue, and can collect child issues in that same project.

Issues are the work items the team plans, assigns, discusses, and completes. Sub-tasks are nested child issues under a parent issue.

Epics

Use an epic when several issues contribute to one outcome.

Good epic uses include:

A user-facing feature with several independently shippable tasks.
A migration that needs backend, frontend, docs, and rollout work.
A bug class where multiple issues share one root cause or remediation plan.
A launch stream that needs progress reporting.

An epic should describe the outcome and acceptance criteria, not just act as a folder. If nobody can tell when the epic is done, make the outcome more specific.

Epic assignment rules

Epics are project-scoped. An issue can be assigned to an epic in the same project. Epics cannot nest inside other epics.

When creating or editing an issue, use the Epic field to choose an epic or select No epic. When the issue type is Epic, the picker is disabled and shows Epics cannot nest.

Initiatives

Use an initiative when you need a workspace-level grouping above epics.

Initiatives are useful for:

Cross-project programs.
Strategic goals that contain several epics.
Product areas with multiple delivery streams.
Leadership or stakeholder reporting.

Create initiatives from the Initiatives page with New initiative. The initiative list shows each initiative name, optional description, epic count, and rollup progress.

Initiative membership

Only epics belong directly to initiatives. Issues do not attach directly to an initiative unless they are epics.

When creating or editing an epic, use the Initiative field to choose an initiative or No initiative. For non-epic issues, the field is disabled and shows Epics only.

On an initiative detail page, use Add epic to attach an available epic. Select an epic from Select epic and choose Add. Use Remove beside an epic to detach it from the initiative.

Milestones

Use a milestone when work is organized around a target date.

Milestones are workspace-level release markers. They can include issues across projects and show whether the milestone is On track, Overdue, or Shipped.

Milestones are best for:

Launch dates.
Compliance dates.
Customer commitments.
Cross-project cutoffs.
Date-driven release readiness.

Create milestones from Milestones with New milestone. A milestone has a Name, optional Description, and Target date.

Versions

Use a version when a project needs release grouping.

Versions are project-scoped. They appear under the project Versions tab and are split into Unreleased and Release history. Each version can be In development or Released.

Versions are best for:

Product releases.
Mobile or desktop app versions.
API versions.
Fix trains.
Release notes and regression tracking.

Create versions from Versions with New version. A version has a Name and optional Description.

Fix version and affects version

Issues can use two version fields:

Fix version: the version where the fix or work is expected to ship.
Affects version: the version where a bug, regression, or behavior was observed.

Use Fix version for planning and release notes. Use Affects version for bug triage and regression analysis.

Choosing the right layer

Need	Use
Group child issues under one outcome	Epic
Group multiple epics across the workspace	Initiative
Track a date-pinned target	Milestone
Track project release contents	Version
Plan a time-boxed sprint	Cycle
Track work that should ship together	Milestone or version