Bring in existing work
There is no file import yet. This is the order that works by hand, or through an AI assistant connected over MCP, which can create people, projects and tasks from a list you paste.
1. People first
Section titled “1. People first”Every item in an export has an assignee. Add each one under People as a member without sign-in. A name is enough. Nobody gets an email. The work is attributed correctly from the first task, and you invite people later, one at a time, when it is worth it to them.
Set each person’s weekly capacity. Record known leave.
2. Projects
Section titled “2. Projects”One project per client or per team, not per epic and not per deadline. If the old tool had one board per client, that maps one to one. If it had one board for everything, split by client or team now; you will not do it later.
Create the labels you need under Work → Projects → Settings before the tasks, so you can label as you go.
3. Tasks
Section titled “3. Tasks”Bring in open work only. Closed history in the old tool stays in the old tool; SRP has nothing to learn from it.
For each task: title, owner, effort size, due date if it has one, labels. Leave the description short or empty. An unowned or undated task is fine; SRP will flag it, which is the point.
With an assistant connected, paste the list and ask it to create the tasks in the project. It is the fastest path for more than twenty items. See Connect an AI assistant.
4. Deadlines
Section titled “4. Deadlines”Now put the tasks with a shared deadline into an iteration. Health starts the moment the iteration has tasks and an end date.
If a promise spans projects or depends on something that is not a task, make it an initiative and link the tasks to its work items. See Initiatives and work items.
5. Engineering work
Section titled “5. Engineering work”If the engineers are in GitLab or GitHub, do not copy their issues. Connect the integration and link the issues that matter to the work items they deliver. See Integrations.
What to expect on day one
Section titled “What to expect on day one”The dashboard will be red. Old work is overdue, some of it is unowned, and some deadlines were never real. That is the picture you did not have. Close what is dead, re-date what is real, and the health settles in a day or two.