# Strategic Items

> Strategic Items are the unit of strategic work in Strategy Hub. Create, edit, organize, and archive them from any view.

Canonical: https://docs.caskcode.io/strategy-hub/items/

A **Strategic Item** is the unit of strategic work. Depending on your framework an Item might be an Objective, a Key Result, a Strategy, a KPI, a Goal, or a Measure—they are all Items, differentiated by their **Type**. This page covers the Item lifecycle and the fields you meet in the **Item details view**.

## Anatomy of an Item

Every Item carries the same set of fields, grouped by what they describe. You edit most of them inline in the Item details view.

- **Name, key, and Type** — the Name is the Item's headline. The key is generated from the Type's prefix (such as `O-12` for an Objective). The Type controls which parents are allowed, the default **Status Set**, and how Status and value updates behave.
- **People** — the **Owner**, a single user accountable for the Item who is auto-granted Manager permissions, and any **Teams** assigned, whose members are auto-granted Collaborator permissions. Both grants apply on Default-access Items.
- **Progress and dates** — the current **Status**, the **Period** the Item belongs to (such as H1 2026), the Start and End dates that frame the planning window, and the start, target, and current value the progress bar measures against. The value shows as a percentage, a plain number, or a currency amount.
- **Update behavior** — whether the Status updates manually or automatically, whether the value is entered manually, rolled up from nested items, or computed from linked work items, and the weight the Item carries in its parent's rollup.
- **Classification and access** — **Labels** for filtering across views, and the **Access level**, either Default or Custom. See [Access and permissions](https://docs.caskcode.io/strategy-hub/access-and-permissions).

![The Item details view with four regions marked: status pill, progress chart, the Details sidebar, and the nested items table](media/items-details-view.webp)

1. **Status and progress** — the current Status and the progress bar, at the top of the view.
2. **Progress chart** — the value tracked over the Item's planning window.
3. **Details** — the sidebar that groups Owner, Teams, Labels, Type, Period, and dates.
4. **Nested items** — the children whose value rolls up into this Item.

## Create and stage an Item

Use **Create new** on the Overview—or the **Create** action on a parent Item—and pick the Item's Type from the menu that opens. You pick the Type first because it decides the rest: the new Item only offers the fields and update modes that Type allows. If the Type allows or requires a parent, a **Pick a parent item** step appears, filtered to the parents that Type permits.

A new Item starts as an **unsaved item**, so you don't have to publish straight away. Build out a whole branch—an Item and its children—and Strategy Hub keeps them in an Unsaved items tray, flags any that are still incomplete, and lets you **Discard all** at once. This is how you plan a tree before the rest of the org sees it. Save the Items when the shape is right and they become visible.

![The Overview with the Create new menu open, listing the Item Types to choose from](media/items-create.webp)

## Edit an Item

Click any Item name to open the Item details view. **Status and progress** sit at the top, with the current Status and the progress bar. Strategy Hub can update the Status automatically from progress, or you can set it manually. Most fields edit inline.

The **Details** sidebar groups the rest of the fields—Owner, Teams, Labels, Type, Period, Start date, End date, and Parent—and the value mode (such as nested items with equal weight) sits just below. Access is set separately from the **Manage access** control in the header.

Two more sections keep the Item's record:

- **Comments** hold discussion in the **Activity** section's Comments tab. They often carry free text, so keep sensitive detail out of them.
- **History** is the Activity section's other tab. It records every change with who, when, and what—including Emergency access events.

![The Item details view's Activity section with the History tab open, listing dated change entries](media/items-history.webp)

## Two ways to see an Item

The Item details view opens in one of two presentations, and you switch between them from the header.

By default it opens as a **modal**—a panel centered over a dimmed backdrop, with the rest of the screen pushed out of focus. The modal suits working one Item at a time, with its full record in front of you.

Choose **Open as drawer** in the header to switch to a **side drawer** instead. The drawer opens in place from the right and leaves the view you came from—the Overview, a board—visible beside it, so you can read an Item without losing your place in the list. **Open as modal** switches back.

![The Item details view open as a modal, centered over the dimmed Overview behind it](media/items-view-modal.webp)

![The same Item open as a side drawer on the right, with the Overview still visible beside it](media/items-view-drawer.webp)

1. **View toggle** — the header control that switches between the two presentations. It reads **Open as drawer** on the modal and **Open as modal** on the drawer.

## Hierarchy and reordering

Each Item has zero or one parent, and the full tree of Items is the **Hierarchy**. Reorder children with the **Move** handle on each row in the Overview and within a Portfolio board subtree.

Which Items can parent which is constrained by Type—a Key Result cannot parent an Objective, for example. See [Configure types and Status Sets](https://docs.caskcode.io/strategy-hub/configure-types-and-status-sets#type-hierarchy) for how those rules are set.

## Archive and restore

Archiving removes an Item from the active views but preserves its data and history. Archived Items are listed under **Settings → Data**, where you can restore any of them.

Archiving a parent does not archive its children—you choose what to archive explicitly. Archived Items are kept for 90 days and then deleted automatically. See [Manage workspace data](https://docs.caskcode.io/strategy-hub/manage-workspace-data).

![The archived items list under Settings → Data, with a row's Actions menu open showing Restore and Delete permanently](media/items-archived.webp)

## Related

- [Statuses and progress](https://docs.caskcode.io/strategy-hub/statuses-and-progress) — how a Status updates from progress, and how value rolls up the tree.
- [Insights](https://docs.caskcode.io/strategy-hub/insights) — the findings Strategy Hub surfaces on Items that need attention.
- [Access and permissions](https://docs.caskcode.io/strategy-hub/access-and-permissions) — who can see and edit an Item, and how Default and Custom access differ.
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