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Goalst supports unlimited nesting of sub-goals, allowing you to break down large, complex objectives into smaller, actionable tasks. Progress automatically rolls up from child goals to parents.

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Why use sub-goals

Sub-goals help you:
  • Break down complexity - Turn overwhelming goals into manageable steps
  • Track dependencies - Organize goals that must happen in sequence
  • Automatic progress - Parent goals calculate progress from their children
  • Hierarchical scoring - Each level contributes to your total score
Progress for a parent goal is automatically calculated as the average completion of all its sub-goals. You can nest goals as deeply as needed.

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Creating sub-goals

1

Open a parent goal

Navigate to any goal’s detail page by clicking on it from your dashboard.
2

Add a sub-goal

In the sub-goals section, click “Add sub-goal” to create a child goal.
3

Enter details

Provide a title and set the priority level (1-20). Sub-goals inherit context from their parent but can have their own priority.
interface Goal {
  id: string
  parent_goal_id: string | null  // Links to parent
  title: string
  priority: number
  sub_goals?: Goal[]  // Recursive children
}
4

Nest further

Each sub-goal can have its own sub-goals. Click on any sub-goal to expand it and add nested children.

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Sub-goal tree view

The sub-goal tree displays all nested goals in an expandable/collapsible hierarchy: 
interface SubGoalTreeProps {
  parentId: string
  depth?: number        // Current nesting level
  canEdit: boolean      // Permission check
}
Each row in the tree shows:
  • Expand/collapse toggle - Chevron icon to show/hide children
  • Completion checkbox - Click to toggle between in progress and completed
  • Title - Double-click to edit inline
  • Progress percentage - Calculated from children or manual
  • Priority indicator - Lightning bolt icon with priority value
  • Delete button - Remove the sub-goal (only visible on hover)
Deleting a sub-goal also deletes all of its nested children. You’ll see a confirmation prompt showing how many sub-goals will be affected.

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Automatic progress calculation

Parent goals automatically calculate their progress based on sub-goal completion: 
export function computeProgress(goal: Goal): number {
  // If no sub-goals, use manual progress
  if (!goal.sub_goals || goal.sub_goals.length === 0) {
    return goal.manual_progress ?? 0
  }

  // Recursively compute weighted average
  const total = goal.sub_goals.length
  const completedWeight = goal.sub_goals.reduce((sum, sub) => {
    const subProgress = computeProgress(sub)  // Recursive
    return sum + subProgress / 100
  }, 0)

  return Math.round((completedWeight / total) * 100)
}

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How it works

  1. Goals without sub-goals use their manual_progress value (0-100)
  2. Goals with sub-goals calculate progress as the average of all children
  3. Calculation is recursive, so deeply nested structures work correctly
  4. A goal reaches 100% when all descendants are at 100%
If a goal has sub-goals, its manual progress is ignored. Progress comes entirely from the sub-goal tree.

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Example hierarchy

Here’s how a typical goal hierarchy might look: 
{
  title: "Launch SaaS Product",
  progress: 45,  // Auto-calculated
  sub_goals: [
    {
      title: "Build MVP",
      progress: 80,  // Auto-calculated
      sub_goals: [
        { title: "Design UI", progress: 100, manual_progress: 100 },
        { title: "Implement Auth", progress: 100, manual_progress: 100 },
        { title: "Add Payments", progress: 40, manual_progress: 40 }
      ]
    },
    {
      title: "Marketing",
      progress: 10,  // Auto-calculated
      sub_goals: [
        { title: "Create Landing Page", progress: 100, manual_progress: 100 },
        { title: "Write Blog Posts", progress: 0, manual_progress: 0 },
        { title: "Social Media Campaign", progress: 0, manual_progress: 0 }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

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Editing sub-goals

You can edit sub-goals directly in the tree view:

Edit title

Double-click on any sub-goal title to edit it inline. Press Enter to save or Escape to cancel.

Change priority

Click the lightning bolt icon to edit priority. Enter a new value (1-20) and press Enter.

Toggle completion

Click the checkbox to mark complete or incomplete. Completed sub-goals show with a strikethrough.

Delete sub-goal

Hover over a row and click the trash icon. Confirm the deletion to remove it and all children.

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Priority inheritance and scoring

Each goal in the hierarchy has its own priority that contributes to scoring: 
export function getEffectivePriority(goal: Goal): number {
  const childrenSum =
    goal.sub_goals?.reduce((sum, child) => sum + getEffectivePriority(child), 0) ?? 0
  return goal.priority + childrenSum
}
  • A parent goal’s effective priority is its own priority plus all descendant priorities
  • When you complete a goal, you earn points equal to its individual priority (not effective)
  • Sub-goals can have different priorities than their parents
  • Higher priority = more points when completed
Breaking a priority-10 goal into 10 priority-1 sub-goals gives you the same total points, but lets you earn progress incrementally.

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Permissions

Sub-goal editing respects collaboration permissions:
  • Owners and Editors can create, edit, and delete sub-goals
  • Viewers can see the tree but cannot make changes
  • Share link visitors follow the link’s permission (view or edit)
interface SubGoalTreeProps {
  canEdit: boolean  // Passed down from parent permission check
}

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Best practices

Keep levels focused

Each level should represent a clear breakdown. Don’t nest unnecessarily deep.

Balance priority distribution

Distribute priority across sub-goals based on importance and effort.

Use descriptive titles

Sub-goal titles should clearly indicate what needs to be done.

Review regularly

Check your goal trees weekly to update progress and adjust priorities.

Goals

Learn about creating and managing individual goals

Progress tracking

Understand how progress calculations work

Gamification

See how nested goals affect your score

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