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Definition

A goal records why a line of work exists. Goals can form a hierarchy inside one organization, so the organization mission can connect to narrower outcomes. A project groups related work and context. It can connect goals with Chats, Issues, resources, workspaces, a lead Agent, and a target date. Project status groups the work; it does not replace the status of an Issue or Automation. An issue is a durable task record with an explicit status and lifecycle. Use one when work needs a named owner, dependencies, or a review path; comments, agent runs, artifacts, and review decisions can stay with the same record. The Issues concept owns the detailed model, and Issue statuses is the authoritative status lookup.

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One illustrative case

A small team wants to publish a launch announcement. Its organization goal is to make the release understandable to new users. A launch project groups the announcement with screenshots and release notes. One Issue asks a writing Agent to produce the Markdown draft and names a reviewer. The goal explains the reason, the project gathers the shared context, and the Issue tells one owner what result to deliver next.

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When each object is useful

Use a goal when the reason should survive individual tasks. Use a project when several work items share context, resources, or a result. Use an Issue when the next piece of work needs explicit coordination. A short conversational task can remain in Chat without an Issue. Link work only when the relationship helps someone understand or execute it. Not every Issue needs its own project, and not every project needs a new goal.

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Operating boundaries

Goals, projects, and Issues stay inside one organization. Goal hierarchies cannot cross organizations or form cycles. Project links do not make work executable by themselves, and an Issue keeps a single assignee. The highest-risk operation is deletion or detachment. Rudder blocks goal deletion while linked projects, Issues, Automations, or other work still depend on it, so the reason for existing work is not removed silently. Follow Run an Issue from intake to done when the task needs structured execution.