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Merge and split

When two initiatives turn out to be the same work, you merge one into the other. When one turns out to be two, you split it. Each has a page of its own. Open it from Merge into… or Split… under More actions on the initiative’s page, or from the agent’s proposal.

The agent proposes a merge or a split, says why, and fills the page in. It never merges or splits on its own. That waits for you.

Merging

Section titled “Merging”

The page lists what would go over, once you pick the initiative it goes into. In the picture, the owner of ACM-290 has opened its merge page and picked ACM-382, Northgate audit pack, to see what would move. Nothing is merged until someone presses Merge into ACM-382.

Merge ACM-290 into another initiative: Ana's chat with the agent on the left; on the right, Into ACM-382 Northgate audit pack; Items to move, the questions from its brief, two settled and one ticked, the five requirements ticked, each going to ACM-382, and five sources ticked; Stays in ACM-290; Reason, empty; a note that ACM-382 is still being shaped, so its agent adds what moves there as its own proposals and the sources join at once; Cancel and Merge into ACM-382.Merge ACM-290 into another initiative: Ana's chat with the agent on the left; on the right, Into ACM-382 Northgate audit pack; Items to move, the questions from its brief, two settled and one ticked, the five requirements ticked, each going to ACM-382, and five sources ticked; Stays in ACM-290; Reason, empty; a note that ACM-382 is still being shaped, so its agent adds what moves there as its own proposals and the sources join at once; Cancel and Merge into ACM-382.
  1. Merge ACM-290 into another initiative. Where you are, under Initiatives and the initiative’s key.
  2. Your chat with the initiative’s agent. It reads the whole initiative and the record, and can explain the merge or propose one.
  3. Into. The initiative it goes into. Pick any open one you can see.
  4. Items to move. The questions from its brief, its requirements and its sources, ticked to go. Only what the other initiative doesn’t have yet is offered. Untick what should stay behind.
  5. to ACM-382. Where one item goes. Send it to another open initiative instead, if it belongs there.
  6. Stays in ACM-290. What stays behind: decided questions, findings, answered decisions, its chat and its history.
  7. Reason. Why they’re the same work.
  8. How it lands in the other initiative (see below).
  9. Merge into ACM-382. Closes this one as merged, and sends what you ticked.

When the agent proposed the merge, the page opens with its pick filled in. Suggested by the agent says why, and its reason is in Reason. Put the proposal aside drops the agent’s proposal.

Sources join the other initiative at once. The questions and requirements never go in word for word. Before the other initiative is approved, its agent adds them as its own proposals. Once it is approved, they become one change request its owner decides, and nothing in it changes until they do. When people who can see the other initiative can’t see this one, the page says they’ll read what moves.

The merged initiative closes with the status Merged. Its page, chat and history stay readable at the same key, with a banner that says where it went, and its chat takes no new messages. In the picture, ACM-323, merged into ACM-293 on 19 October:

ACM-323 after its merge: the status Merged · into ACM-293; a banner, Merged into ACM-293 Single sign-on for every depot at once, On 19 Oct 2026 by Ana Ruiz, with her reason; the chat, where the agent asked whether this is the same as ACM-293, and under it, This initiative was merged into ACM-293. Carry on there.ACM-323 after its merge: the status Merged · into ACM-293; a banner, Merged into ACM-293 Single sign-on for every depot at once, On 19 Oct 2026 by Ana Ruiz, with her reason; the chat, where the agent asked whether this is the same as ACM-293, and under it, This initiative was merged into ACM-293. Carry on there.
  1. Merged · into ACM-293. The status, and where it went.
  2. Merged into. Who merged it, when, and their reason.
  3. Its chat, closed. Carry on in the initiative it went into.

A merge is final: nothing moves an initiative out of Merged. Search and the agents read it only as a pointer to where it went. The initiative it went into shows Merged in: with a link back.

Only an initiative that isn’t approved yet can be merged away. An approved one is a commitment, changed through change requests or rejected. Neither initiative can be closed already.

Splitting

Section titled “Splitting”

In the picture, ACM-324 holds two pieces of work for Halden. One is a sign-in log for its auditors, the other idle sign-out on shared depot PCs. The agent proposed splitting the second out.

Split ACM-324, with the chat hidden: New initiative, You own it, and it is shared like ACM-324, named Idle sign-out on shared depot PCs; Requirements, with Suggested by the agent and why, R0 the core goal, R1 Stays, R2 and R3 Moves; Related work, sources, slices, and answered decisions, the chat and the history; Reason, filled in; a note that ACM-324 is still being shaped, so it splits now; Put the proposal aside, Cancel and Split.Split ACM-324, with the chat hidden: New initiative, You own it, and it is shared like ACM-324, named Idle sign-out on shared depot PCs; Requirements, with Suggested by the agent and why, R0 the core goal, R1 Stays, R2 and R3 Moves; Related work, sources, slices, and answered decisions, the chat and the history; Reason, filled in; a note that ACM-324 is still being shaped, so it splits now; Put the proposal aside, Cancel and Split.
  1. New initiative. The new initiative’s name. It will be yours, shared like this one.
  2. Suggested by the agent. Why the agent would cut here.
  3. Core goal. It always stays here.
  4. Stays and Moves. Where each requirement goes. Pick at least one that moves.
  5. Related work. Both keep all the sources. Slices stay here, and this initiative’s agent re-cuts the ones the split affects. Answered decisions, the chat and the history stay here, and the new one links back to them.
  6. Reason. Why they’re separate pieces of work.
  7. How the split lands (see below).
  8. Put the proposal aside. Clears the agent’s proposal.
  9. Split. Makes the new initiative.

Before approval, the split happens at once. The new initiative starts with the requirements that moved, and the first becomes its core goal. Its agent writes a brief from what moved, and this initiative’s agent updates its approach and slices. Once the initiative is approved, the button reads Propose the split. The split becomes a change request its owner decides, and choosing it starts the new initiative, unapproved, with its own Kickoff and approval.

If you split by mistake, merge the new initiative back.

The agent’s proposals

Section titled “The agent’s proposals”

Once you agree in the chat, the agent proposes a merge into the initiative that already does the work. It proposes a split when the requirements fall into groups that share nothing, or are for different people. The proposal waits as a banner on the initiative, for the people who edit it:

The banner on ACM-324: The agent proposes splitting R2, R3 out into Idle sign-out on shared depot PCs, with why, and Review and Put aside.The banner on ACM-324: The agent proposes splitting R2, R3 out into Idle sign-out on shared depot PCs, with why, and Review and Put aside.
  1. Review. Opens the page, filled in as the agent proposed.
  2. Put aside. Clears the proposal.

A merge proposal also waits in Decisions, where Review opens the same page. A split never goes to the Inbox or Decisions. The scope check can suggest one, with a banner of its own: This looks like more than one initiative. The duplicate check on the Kickoff offers Merge into it when it finds a look-alike.

Access

Section titled “Access”

Only the people who edit the initiative merge or split it, and for a merge they must also see the initiative it goes into.