Board Guide

The Glacier board is a flow-based kanban board. Work moves left to right through columns, each with a defined type, optional WIP limits, and a card hierarchy for decomposing work into sub-items.

Columns and column types

Every column has a type that controls how cycle time is calculated and how the board behaves during cycle autorollover.

Set column type in column settings (hover the column header → gear icon). A typical board:

Backlog (Queue) → In Progress (Active) → In Review (Waiting) → Done

You can rename columns, reorder them by dragging, and set WIP limits independently of the type.

Cards

Cards are the unit of work on the board. Each card has a title, optional description, priority, assignee, and labels.

Creating cards

• Click + at the top of any column.
• Use ⌘K and type what you want to create — Claude can create cards via MCP.

Editing cards

Click any card to open the detail panel:

• Title — edit inline.
• Description — rich text, supports markdown.
• Column — move the card to a different column from the dropdown.
• Priority — Low, Medium, High. High-priority cards show a red accent on the board.
• Assignee — assign any workspace member.
• Labels — colour-coded tags. Create labels from the card detail panel or from workspace settings.
• Linked doc — attach a doc to the card. Claude can follow this link via MCP.
• GitHub link — link a GitHub issue or pull request. Glacier shows a live status badge.

Moving cards

Drag cards between columns, or change the column from the detail panel. You can also ask Claude to move a card: "Move PROJ-12 to In Review".

Card IDs

Every card gets a short ID in the format PREFIX-N, for example GLACIE-42. The prefix is set per-project in Project Settings → General.

Card IDs are stable — they never change, even if the card is renamed or moved. Use them to reference work in conversations with Claude:

"What's the status of GLACIE-42?" "Summarise the doc linked to PROJ-7." "Create a child card under GLACIE-10 for the database migration."

WIP limits

WIP (work in progress) limits cap how many cards can be in a column at once.

Set a WIP limit in column settings. Once set:

• The column header shows the current count vs the limit.
• At the limit → count turns amber.
• Exceeding the limit → count turns red.

Why WIP limits matter: More work in flight simultaneously means longer cycle times for everything. Limiting WIP forces the team to finish before starting new work, which reduces cycle time and makes bottlenecks visible earlier.

A WIP limit of 2–3 on active columns is a reasonable starting point for a small team. The MCP server respects WIP limits — Claude will warn you before creating a card that would exceed them.

Card hierarchy

Cards can be nested up to 3 levels deep. Use this to decompose large items into parts without cluttering the board.

Creating child cards

Open a card detail panel → Sub-items section → + Add sub-item.

Child cards appear on the board like any other card. They can be moved independently and assigned to different columns.

Root-only toggle

The board has a Root only toggle in the toolbar. When enabled, child cards are hidden from the board view — only top-level cards are shown. This reduces visual clutter when working at a high level.

Subtasks vs child cards

Within a card's detail panel, you can also add subtasks — lightweight checkboxes that live inside the card without appearing on the board. Use subtasks for implementation steps; use child cards when sub-items need their own columns, assignees, and tracking.

Sub-items vs flight levels

Sub-items decompose a card into parts. Flight levels scope the entire board by altitude (strategy, coordination, delivery). They're orthogonal — neither requires the other.