Display issue child items on issue board in Gitlab

General
1

I have an issue board for my team with issues of different sizes and complexities. Several of them have child items, for instance an epic can have child issues detailing user stories and then each user story may have several tasks necessary to deliver that user story.

The child items in the user stories, named tasks, are not shown on the issue board. I have checked the following:

  • All issues and tasks are in the same group/project
  • No labels are excluding the child items

It is possible to convert the tasks to issues, but then Gitlab requires me to let go of the parent-child link and a lot of context is lost, which is not desirable.

I just want the tasks (child items) to be visible in mye issue board along with the other issues.

2

Problem

You’re using a GitLab issue board where:

  • You have epics → user stories → tasks as a hierarchy.
  • Tasks (child items of user stories) are not visible on the board.
  • All items are in the same project, and labels are not hiding them.
  • Converting tasks to full issues breaks the parent-child relationship, which you don’t want.

Short Answer

GitLab issue boards only show top-level issues by default — child tasks are not shown.
This is by design in GitLab’s current issue board system.

###Possible Workarounds

1. Use Labels + Filters

  • Add a label like task to child items.
  • Use board filters (label:task) to create a separate list or board for tasks.

2. Flatten the Hierarchy (if practical)

  • Convert tasks to regular issues, but use Linked Issues (not parent-child) to maintain context, if you’re okay with losing the strict hierarchy.

3. Use Epics + Roadmap View (for planning)

  • While the issue board is limited, the epics + roadmap view better supports hierarchy visibility.
  • This helps you visualize stories and tasks together.

What You Cannot Do (Currently)

  • There is no native setting in GitLab to automatically display child tasks (from parent issues or epics) directly on the issue board alongside other issues.

Summary

You’re not doing anything wrong — GitLab currently does not support displaying child tasks on issue boards. Your best options are:

  • Use labels to include them manually.
  • Track them separately via filters or lists.
  • Use the Epic/Roadmap views for hierarchical planning.

Let me know if you’d like a custom script or automation to surface child issues on your board in another way.