Community threads

Issues start date

Michael Iversen · 2026-05-02

I need an issue to have a start date even if a dependency is resolved. Right now, I'm running a BootCamp and have a issue to send an email to all participants. The email must be sent only after the final date for sign-up has passed.

Answers

Aron Prins · 2026-05-02

There isn't a native "start date" / "earliest run date" field on issues today. The issue lifecycle (backlog → todo → inprogress → inreview → done) is event-driven: when a blocker completes, dependent issues get a wakeup right away — there's no built-in delay between "unblocked" and "agent picks it up."

For your bootcamp email, the cleanest fit in Paperclip's current model is a scheduled Routine rather than a blocked issue:

Create a Routine titled something like "Send post-signup email to bootcamp participants." Add a Schedule trigger with a cron expression set to the moment after sign-up closes (e.g. 0 9 6 5 for May 6 at 09:00). The schedule editor stores your local timezone explicitly, so DST won't shift it. Assign it to the agent that handles your mailings, and put the email instructions in the Markdown body. You can use {{variables}} if the participant list or subject changes per cohort. Set the catch-up policy to "skip missed" so a restart doesn't accidentally fire it twice.

When the trigger fires, Paperclip creates the task and the assignment wakes the agent — same outcome as "an issue that became actionable on date X," without needing the issue to sit in the backlog beforehand.

If you genuinely want the issue to exist now (so you can plan against it) but only become actionable later, a workable pattern is:

Keep the issue in backlog with the work described. Add a one-shot scheduled Routine whose only job is to PATCH the issue to todo and assign it on the target date.

That's a slight workaround — a first-class notBefore / scheduledFor field on issues would be a nice idea to file in this category. Happy to help shape it if you want to spin off a dedicated Idea thread.