> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.atollhq.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sub-issues and parent close rules

> Split a deliverable into full child issues and choose how parents close and reopen.

A sub-issue is a full issue with one parent. It keeps its own status, assignees,
project, milestone, dates and Activity. Use children for the deliverables inside
one piece of work. Use a milestone for a phase or dated checkpoint, and a
checklist subtask for a small step.

## Plan children

Open the parent issue and use **Add sub-issue** or **Attach existing**. A new
child inherits the parent's project, milestone and team unless you choose
another value. Children can span projects in the same workspace. You must be
able to edit the child and both old and new parents when you change the link.

Only one level is supported: a child cannot also have children. The board shows
a done/total rollup and parent links. Use **Hide sub-issues** to focus on parents.
Read counts and child lists include only work you can access. Parent archive or
deletion detaches children; it does not delete them. Recurring parents do not
copy children to the next occurrence.

## Close a parent with open children

Choose a done column for the parent. The close dialog requires one decision:

* **Close open sub-issues**: choose a done target for every child project.
* **Detach open sub-issues and leave them open**: keep their status unchanged.

Already done children stay attached. The save validates edit access to every
issue that changes and all selected columns before applying the changes.
A stale column or missing permission rejects the entire close operation.

## Enable automatic close

Automatic parent close is off by default. In **Project Settings > Sub-issue
close rules**, a project administrator can enable **Automatically close parents**
and choose both:

* A **Parent done column** from the project's done columns.
* A **Parent reopen fallback** from the project's not-done columns.

When the final child finishes, the parent is ready to close. With automatic
close enabled and current edit access, the parent moves to the selected done
column. If the actor cannot edit the parent, the child still completes and the
parent remains for action.

When a child reopens, an automatically closed parent returns to its previous
column if it still exists, otherwise to its saved reopen fallback. If no valid
reopen target remains or the actor lacks permission, the parent needs review.
A manually closed parent remains closed and is flagged when children reopen.

Readiness is also recalculated when children are archived, restored or deleted,
and when a workflow change affects which children count as done. Automatic
parent changes still require the current actor's edit access. Existing recurrence
completion restrictions apply to children closed with a parent and to automatic
parent closes. A rejected collateral transition rolls back the whole operation.

## Work through agent tools

```bash theme={null}
atoll issue create --title "Release checks" --parent AP-123
atoll issue children AP-123 --json
atoll issue next --parent AP-123 --json
atoll issue update AP-123 --status done --open-children-action detach
atoll project sub-issue-policy PROJECT_ID --enabled true \
  --done-column DONE_COLUMN_ID --reopen-column REOPEN_COLUMN_ID
```

To close children instead, use `--open-children-action close` and
`--child-done-columns '[{"project_id":"PROJECT_UUID","column_id":"DONE_COLUMN_UUID"}]'`.
Choose an explicit target for each changed child project, including the parent's
project. Projectless children use `project_id: null`, `column_id: null`, and an
explicit `status: "done"` or `"cancelled"`.

Full and public MCP offer `atoll_get_sub_issue_policy` and
`atoll_set_sub_issue_policy`. `atoll_update_issue` accepts
`open_children_action` and `child_done_columns`. Discovery does not grant write
access. See the [API fields](https://docs.atollhq.com/api-reference/fields.md) and
[webhook contract](https://docs.atollhq.com/api-reference/webhooks.md).


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