Sprint Planning and Lifecycle
A sprint is a short, focused period of work — typically one or two weeks — where your team commits to completing a defined set of tasks and issues. In Varai Sprints, every sprint must belong to a release. This keeps your day-to-day work connected to your broader delivery goals.
The sprint lifecycle at a glance
Planning → Active → Completed
↓
(or Cancelled at any point)
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Planning | Sprint is being set up. Add tasks and issues, set dates, plan capacity. |
| Active | The sprint is running. Team is actively working on items. |
| Completed | Sprint is done. All data locked for reporting. |
| Cancelled | Sprint was stopped early. Items can be moved to another sprint. |
Creating a sprint
Every sprint must be created inside a release.
- In the left sidebar, click Releases.
- Open the release you want to add a sprint to.
- Click New Sprint.
- Fill in the sprint details:
| Field | Required? | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sprint name | Yes | e.g., "Sprint 3" or "Sprint 3 — Checkout Flow" |
| Goal | No | One sentence describing the sprint's objective |
| Start date | Yes | When the sprint begins |
| End date | Yes | When the sprint ends |
- Click Create Sprint.
A clear goal helps everyone prioritize. Example: "Deliver the user authentication flow so QA can begin testing." Keep it short and outcome-focused.
Adding items to a sprint
Once your sprint is created, add work items to it.
Adding tasks
- Open the sprint.
- Click New Task.
- Enter a title and any other details (assignee, priority, dates).
- Click Create Task.
Adding issues (bugs)
Issues come from your bug tracker. To add an issue to a sprint:
- Open the sprint.
- Click Add Issue.
- Search for the issue by title or ID.
- Select it and click Add to Sprint.
Tasks are internal work items you create in Varai Sprints (features, improvements, to-dos). Issues are bugs tracked in the bug tracker. Both appear side by side in the sprint board.
Starting a sprint
When your sprint is planned and your team is ready:
- Open the sprint.
- Click Start Sprint.
- Confirm the start and end dates.
- Click Start.
Once started, the sprint status changes to Active. You can now track work on the Kanban board or Gantt chart.
A release can have only one sprint active at a time. If another sprint in this release is already active, you must complete or cancel it before starting a new one.
Tracking sprint progress
While a sprint is active, you can see:
- Board view (Kanban) — drag items across status columns
- List view — see all items in a table with filters
- Gantt view — visualize items on a timeline
- Sprint progress bar — percentage of items completed
- Burndown — shows how work is being completed over time (in Reports)
Completing a sprint
When the sprint end date arrives (or you decide you are done early):
- Open the sprint.
- Click Complete Sprint.
- Varai Sprints shows you a summary:
- How many items are Done
- How many items are still open
- For open items, choose what to do:
- Move to next sprint — select another sprint to carry them over
- Move to backlog — return them to the workspace backlog
- Leave as-is — keep them in this sprint (they will show as incomplete)
- Click Complete Sprint.
After completion the sprint is locked and its data feeds into reports.
It is normal to have some items not finish in a sprint. Plan for 80–90% completion and use carry-overs to feed planning for the next sprint.
Cancelling a sprint
If a sprint needs to be abandoned:
- Open the sprint.
- Click Actions → Cancel Sprint.
- Move or leave open items as prompted.
- Confirm the cancellation.
Editing a sprint
You can edit a sprint's name, goal, and dates while it is in Planning or Active status.
- Open the sprint.
- Click the Edit icon next to the sprint name.
- Make your changes.
- Click Save.
Changing sprint dates while a sprint is active is allowed, but be mindful that it affects Gantt chart rendering and capacity calculations.