Project View — Graph Mode

Views

Overview

Graph mode in the Organisation View renders your entire project portfolio as an interactive node-and-edge diagram. Where the default tree view shows projects in a hierarchical list, graph mode shows how projects relate to each other — which share programs, which have cross-project story dependencies, and where delivery paths intersect.

Graph mode is most useful for SAFe PI planning, portfolio reviews, and dependency mapping across teams. For day-to-day project work, the tree view is faster to navigate.

Switching to graph mode

1Open Organisation View from the left sidebar (grid icon)
2In the top-right corner of the view, find the List / Graph toggle
3Click Graph — the view re-renders as an interactive diagram
4Use the scroll wheel or pinch to zoom; click and drag on empty space to pan

Understanding the nodes

Node typeShapeWhat it represents
ProgramLarge rounded rectangleTop-level SAFe program or portfolio grouping. Contains multiple projects.
ProjectRectangleA single Silverile project. Shows name, status, and active sprint indicator.
Epic (cross-project)DiamondAn epic that spans multiple projects. Connects to all projects delivering it.
Dependency linkDirected arrowA dependency between a story in one project and a story in another.

Node colour reflects project health status — the same colour coding used in the Organisation View tree: green (on track), amber (at risk), red (blocked or behind), grey (no active sprint).

Interacting with the graph

  • Single-click a node — opens the detail panel on the right side showing project summary, current sprint status, and KPIs
  • Double-click a node — navigates into that project
  • Hover over an edge — highlights the dependency and shows a tooltip with the linked story names and current statuses
  • Click an edge — opens the dependency detail panel showing both stories, their assignees, and whether the dependency is blocking
  • Drag a node — repositions it. The graph remembers your layout between sessions.
  • Collapse a program node — click the collapse icon on a program node to fold all its child projects into a single summary node, reducing visual clutter

Reading the dependency map

Arrows between project nodes represent cross-project story dependencies. The arrow direction shows which project is waiting on which:

  • Arrow from Project A → Project B means Project A has a story that depends on (is blocked by) a story in Project B
  • Red arrow — the dependency is currently blocking: the upstream story (in B) is not yet Done
  • Green arrow — the dependency is resolved: the upstream story is Done
  • Multiple arrows between two projects — there are several cross-project dependencies between them. Click the edge bundle to see all dependency pairs.
A project with many incoming red arrows is a bottleneck for the whole portfolio — other teams are waiting on it. This is a critical signal for PI planning: identify these projects early and ensure they are resourced to deliver their dependencies on time.

Filtering the graph

For large portfolios, filtering reduces the graph to only what's relevant:

  • Program filter — show only projects belonging to a specific program
  • Team filter — show only projects where a specific department or team has members
  • Status filter — show only at-risk or blocked projects
  • Show dependencies only — hides all edges except active blocking dependencies, cutting noise significantly
  • Sprint filter — show only projects with an active sprint in a given date window (useful for PI scope reviews)

Using graph mode for PI planning

During a SAFe Program Increment planning session, graph mode gives the full delivery landscape in a single view:

1Filter to the current PI's projects using the program and date filters
2Enable Show dependencies only to focus on cross-team dependencies
3Red arrows identify risks — work with the relevant teams to resolve them before the PI starts
4Use the detail panel for each project to confirm sprint velocity and capacity are realistic for the PI commitment
5Export the graph as an image (Download button, top right) for inclusion in PI planning documentation

Troubleshooting

The graph view option isn't available

Graph mode is available in the Organisation View when your enterprise has more than one project. Navigate to Organisation View (the grid icon in the left sidebar) and look for the Graph toggle at the top right of the page. If you only have one project, graph mode is not shown.

The graph is too dense to read

Use the filter panel to reduce the number of nodes. Filter to a specific program, team, or set of projects. You can also collapse program nodes to reduce detail — click a program node to collapse its child projects into a single summary node.

Cross-project dependencies aren't showing

Cross-project dependency edges only appear when dependencies have been explicitly created between stories in different projects using the Story Dependencies feature. If projects have informal dependencies (verbal agreements, Slack conversations), they won't appear in the graph until they're logged as story-level links.

I can't click through to a project from the graph

Double-click a project node to open the project. Single-click selects the node and shows its detail panel on the right. The detail panel has a direct link to open the project in a new tab.

The graph layout looks cluttered or overlapping

Click the <strong>Auto-layout</strong> button to re-run the layout algorithm. You can also drag nodes to preferred positions — the layout will remember the positions until you reset or run auto-layout again.

On this page