The new “Tasks” tab in the CodeStream navigation gives you quick access to everything on your plate. There you can initiate work on any item and keep the team informed of your progress. Note also that there is a new “+” button on the bottom right of the tab, giving access to the functions that used to be on the global navigation in a faster and more intuitive way. There are three main sections on this tab.

Open Code Reviews

Because addressing requests for reviews is a top priority, all open code reviews assigned to you are listed at the top of the page. Since CodeStream makes it easy to review code right from inside your IDE, it takes less time and effort than web-based approaches, so jump right to it!

Work In Progress

A quick snapshot of what you’re currently working on, including the Trello card (or Jira ticket, GitHub issue, etc.) driving the work and the code changes you have in flight. Click on any file name to view a diff of your changes so far, and look out for the file names in orange as they represent potential merge conflicts. Hover over the file name to see which teammate you need to coordinate with to avoid a conflict.

Most importantly, click Request Review (also available through the “+” button) when you’re ready to have someone look at your changes. Remember that you don’t need to wait until the work is completed to get a review. Earlier reviews result in less rework and better code quality. Reviews of work-in-progress code, including uncommitted code, are frictionless for both you and the person doing the review.

What are you working on?

Once you’ve connected CodeStream to your team’s issue tracking service, everything assigned to you will be listed here. With certain services, like Trello, you can filter down to a specific board/list. Click on any item in the list (or the New Item button) to start work, optionally creating a feature branch and updating the status of the Trello card in the process.

A complete “tasks” dashboard

By integrating all your to-do’s in one place, CodeStream allows you to assess your workload at a glance.  It also allows you to integrate multiple task/issue trackers in a single view.  If you manage some issues in Jira, while others are in GitHub, by connecting both to CodeStream you will see it all in one place.  By updating automatically your issue/task to the next step, you can also keep your team informed of your progress.