Dependencies Map

The Dependencies Map helps you understand how a specific item connects to the rest of the workspace. Start with a plan, objective, key result, or initiative, then trace its parents, dependencies, and custom relationships.

Use the Dependencies Map when you want to answer questions such as:

• What is this key result attached to?

• Which objective or plan does this item roll up to?

• Which initiatives support this key result?

• Which related goals depend on, contribute to, or influence this item?

• Can I create a focused, shareable view of one item and its relationships?

Opening The Dependencies Map

You can open the Dependencies Map from several places in Tability:

• From a plan page, using Open dependencies map next to the share action.

• From an outcome/key result panel.

• From an objective panel.

• From an initiative panel.

• From key result rows inside the new Strategy Map.

Choosing What To Focus On

If you open the Dependencies Map without a focused item, you will see an empty state asking you to choose what to focus on.

Click Choose focus to open the picker. The picker has tabs for:

• Plans.

• Key results.

• Objectives.

• Initiatives.

Search by name, then select an item. The map loads with that item centered as the focus.

You can change the focus later with the Change focus button in the header, or with the branch icon on a card.

Understanding The Map

The focused item appears as the central card. Related items appear above and below it depending on direction:

• Parent relationships appear upstream.

• Dependencies appear downstream.

• Both shows both directions.

Direct structural relationships and custom relationships are visually different:

• Solid lines represent direct structural connections, such as initiative to key result, key result to objective, and objective to plan.

• Dashed lines represent custom relationship connections.

Hover a card to trace its path. Related nodes and edges are highlighted, and unrelated parts of the graph fade back.

Node Types

The Dependencies Map can show four main item types.

Plan Cards

Plan cards show the plan icon, title, state, and a Plan label.

Clicking a plan card opens the plan in a new tab. Plans do not open in a side panel.

Plan focus is supported. If a plan is the focused item, the map expands downstream into objectives, key results, and initiative groups. Parent controls are disabled for plan focus because plan upstream relationships are not part of this map version.

Objective Cards

Objective cards use a flag icon. They show the objective title, plan context, progress/NCS details when available, and an Objective label.

Clicking an objective card opens the objective detail panel.

Key Result Cards

Key result cards use the same confidence color square as the rest of Tability. They show the key result title, plan context, current value or check-in status, and a Key result label.

For measurable key results, the footer can include a small circular progress indicator next to the current value.

Clicking a key result card opens the key result detail panel.

Initiative Cards And Groups

Individual initiative cards appear when an initiative is the focused item.

When initiatives are dependencies of a key result, they are grouped by default into an Initiatives group node. This prevents large key results from creating a massive row of individual initiative cards.

An initiative group shows:

• Initiative count.

• Work-state summary labels with colored dots.

• An Expand control.

Expanding the group reveals initiative rows. Each row shows:

• Task icon.

• Initiative title.

• Work-state label.

• Branch icon for changing focus.

Clicking an initiative row opens the initiative detail panel. Clicking the row’s branch icon changes the map focus to that initiative.

Opening Details Versus Changing Focus

The Dependencies Map separates two actions that are easy to confuse:

• Clicking the main card opens the item details.

• Clicking the branch icon changes the map focus.

For example:

• Click a key result card to open its detail panel.

• Click the branch icon on that key result card to rebuild the map around that key result.

This lets you inspect details without losing the current map context.

Parent And Dependencies Controls

The header has direction controls:

• Both shows parent and dependency directions.

• Parent shows upstream relationships.

• Dependencies shows downstream relationships.

The header also has depth controls:

• Parent controls how many upstream levels to show.

• Dependencies controls how many downstream levels to show.

The default view uses:

• Parent depth: 1

• Dependencies depth: 2

Depth can be increased up to the map maximum. Increasing depth may fetch more data and show more nodes.

If the focused item is a plan, parent controls are disabled because plan focus starts from the plan and expands downstream.

Expanding More Parents Or Dependencies

When the map knows more items exist beyond the current depth, it shows boundary buttons such as:

+ 2 more dependencies
+ 1 more parents

Clicking one of these buttons expands that specific branch. It does not necessarily change the global depth for the whole map.

This is useful when you want to inspect one branch more deeply without making the entire graph larger.

Collapsing Branches

Cards with visible parent or dependency branches have a dot menu.

The menu can include:

• Collapse parents.

• Collapse dependencies.

Use these actions to hide a branch while keeping the current card visible.

After collapsing a branch, the map shows a boundary button for the hidden items. Click that boundary button to restore the collapsed branch.

Restoring The Default View

When you have expanded, collapsed, or opened initiative groups, a Restore default view button appears inside the map in the top-right corner.

Click it to clear view-specific expansions and collapses.

This keeps the same focused item, but resets branch-specific map state.

Copying A Shareable Link

Click Copy link to copy a URL for the current Dependencies Map view.

The map behaves like the Strategy Map:

• URL parameters initialize the view.

• Interactions update local view state.

• The address bar does not change on every interaction.

• Copy link serializes the current local state into a shareable URL.

Copied links can include:

• Focus type.

• Focus item slug.

• Direction.

• Parent and dependency depth.

• Expanded branch depths.

• Collapsed branches.

• Expanded initiative groups.

Use Copy link when you have shaped a useful dependency view and want someone else to open the same context.

Downloading A Screenshot

Click Download screenshot to export the current visible map viewport as a PNG.

The screenshot captures the current canvas state, including pan, zoom, expanded groups, collapsed branches, and visible relationships.

Use this for:

• Leadership updates.

• Async investigation notes.

• Slack discussions.

• Planning docs.

Recommended Workflows

Trace A Key Result Back To Strategy

1. Open the Dependencies Map from the key result panel or Strategy Map.

2. Keep direction set to Both.

3. Use parent depth 1 or 2 to show the objective and plan.

4. Hover the key result or parent cards to trace the path.

5. Click the objective or plan if you need to inspect the parent context.

Investigate What A Key Result Depends On

1. Focus the key result.

2. Use the Dependencies direction or keep Both selected.

3. Review initiative groups and related key results.

4. Expand initiative groups if you need work-level detail.

5. Use Collapse dependencies on noisy branches.

6. Use Copy link to share the resulting view.

Start From A Plan

1. Open the Dependencies Map from the plan page.

2. The plan appears as the focused item.

3. Downstream nodes show objectives, key results, and initiative groups based on depth.

4. Use the branch icon on a specific objective or key result to refocus the map.

Build A Clean View For A Discussion

1. Choose a focus item.

2. Set direction to Parent, Dependencies, or Both.

3. Adjust depths until the view shows enough context.

4. Collapse noisy branches.

5. Expand only the initiative groups you need.

6. Download a screenshot or copy the link.

Strategy Map Versus Dependencies Map

Use the Dependencies Map for item-level relationship tracing:

• Plan to objectives.

• Objective to key results.

• Key result to initiatives.

• Key result or objective to custom relationship dependencies.

• Focused investigation of one item and its relationships.

Use the Strategy Map for macro plan navigation:

• Workspace to top-level plans.

• Top-level plans to sub-plans.

• Plan health scanning.

• Shareable leadership views.

If you need to understand one item’s relationships, use the Dependencies Map. If you need to understand the plan portfolio, use the Strategy Map.

Troubleshooting

The map is empty

Choose a focus item. The Dependencies Map needs a plan, objective, key result, or initiative to start.

Parent controls are disabled

This happens when the focused item is a plan. Plan focus currently expands downstream only.

The graph becomes too large

Reduce dependency depth, switch to a single direction, collapse noisy branches, or keep initiative groups collapsed.

I clicked a card and the map did not refocus

Clicking the card opens the detail panel. Use the branch icon on the card to change focus.

I changed the map but the browser URL did not change

That is expected. The map stores changes locally while you work. Use Copy link to generate a URL for the current view.

Relationship lines are dashed

Dashed lines represent custom relationships rather than direct structural parent-child links.

Initiative rows do not appear as graph cards

That is intentional. Initiatives are grouped under their key result by default to keep the graph readable. Expand the initiative group to see the rows, or focus an initiative to render it as the central item.