Where work is shaped before it is built. An idea is an unrefined card; the backlog is where it becomes a real one.
Ideas are grouped under topics, the areas you are exploring in a project. Drag a topic up or down to change its priority (the arrow keys move it too), and drag an idea to another topic of the same project. A new idea sits under Unsorted until Grid has read it, then Grid files it under a topic, creating one when none fits, up to six per project.
＋ New idea in the backlog's header captures an idea; ＋ New card in the top bar captures a card that skips the backlog. See capture.
An idea is ready when four checks pass: the task is clear, the desired outcome is written down, the scope is bounded, and the open questions are answered. An idea that changes screens has a fifth, design, which passes once the project has a design. Ready is worked out from those checks every time; it is never stored and never set by dragging.
Refinement is a conversation, not a form. Open ✦ Automatic refinement and Grid asks the questions that close the gaps, at most three at a time with a few options each, and you answer, ask back, or tell it what to change in the message box. Shortcut buttons ask for a split, the risks, the effort, related cards, or a draft of the acceptance and scope.
From the answers it proposes the card type (feature, bug, chore or research), the difficulty, and whether the idea is big enough to become a masterplan with subcards, each with what it waits for. When an idea changes screens it says so and offers to open the project's design, or to create one.
Refinement reads the workspace and never changes files. It runs on Claude, whichever provider runs your cards.
An idea with checks still open offers ▶ Start in Prepare: the Prepare agent finishes the homework. A fully refined idea offers ▶ Start building and skips Prepare, because that work is already done; until refinement's plan has been validated it still starts in Prepare, and the button says so. An idea with a split proposal starts as a masterplan and its subcards.
An idea waiting on your answer shows on Needs you as DECIDE.