---
sourceDocument: Brazil Strategic Portfolio Management
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/it-business-management

 Release :

    - brazil

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Brazil Strategic Portfolio Management

ft:clusterId :

    - itbm

bundleId :

    - itbm

workflow :

    - Technology


---

# Substates in EAP

# Substates in EAP {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Brazil  
Updated October 14, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 3 minutes to read  
Divide a story state into substates in Enterprise Agile Planning so that a team can track work in more detail.

Story states are the same for every team, but teams don't all work in the same steps. When a team does several kinds of work within one state, the Planning board shows a single lane for all of it. The team can't see where in the state
its work is waiting.

A substate helps divide a story state into smaller steps that match how a team works. For example, a team can divide the Work in progress state into Code review and other steps. Each
substate belongs to one team and one state, so each team defines the substates that fit its own process. Other teams and their states aren't affected.

A scrum master creates and manages substates from the Substates tab of the Team
Settings page. For more information, see [Create substates for a team in EAP](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/PMvv~9G9j4ctIbN3U2Z2SA "Add substates to a story state for an Agile Team to track work in more detail on stories and on the Planning board in Enterprise Agile Planning.").

## Benefits of substates {#substates-in-eap__substates-in-eap-benefits}

Substates give a team a closer view of its work while the standard states stay the same:

* A story keeps its state. Substates add detail within the state, so planning that relies on states continues to work.
* Each team sets its own substates. A change by one team doesn't affect the substates of another team.
* The Planning board of the team shows one lane for each substate, so the team can see where work is waiting within a state.
* A team can set a WIP limit on a single substate lane, such as Code review, to keep work from piling up at one step. For more information, see [Set WIP limits for Kanban lanes in EAP](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/5tw9KEXpn9uM3dlhvHFfyQ "Limit the amount of work in progress for each state or substate of an Agile Team in Enterprise Agile Planning so that the team keeps its workload under control.").

## What defines a substate {#substates-in-eap__substates-in-eap-properties}

Each substate has a state that it belongs to, a name that users see, and an order. Substates with lower order numbers appear first within the state. A substate can also be the default for its state.

For the fields that you complete when you create a substate, see [Create substates for a team in EAP](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/PMvv~9G9j4ctIbN3U2Z2SA "Add substates to a story state for an Agile Team to track work in more detail on stories and on the Planning board in Enterprise Agile Planning.").

## Default substates {#substates-in-eap__substates-in-eap-default-substate}

A team can have one default substate for each state. The first substate that you create for a state becomes the default automatically, even if you don't select Use as default. A state that has substates
therefore always has a default substate. If you mark a different substate as the default, the new default replaces the previous one, and a message tells you about the change.

When the first default substate is set for a state, the stories in that state that have no substate are moved to it. This update runs in the background, and a message tells you that it started.

## Substates on stories {#substates-in-eap__substates-in-eap-stories}

Story forms and lists have a Substate field. The field lists the substates of the story's team for the story's current state. The field doesn't appear when the team has no substates for the state. It also
doesn't appear for a story that belongs to a team above the Agile Team level in the Agile structure.

The substate of a story follows its state:

* When you change the state of a story, the substate changes to the default substate of the new state. If the new state has no substates, the field is cleared.
* If you change the state and choose a substate in the same update, your chosen substate is kept.
* If you change only the substate, the state changes to the state that the substate belongs to.

## Substates on the Planning board {#substates-in-eap__substates-in-eap-planning-board}

On the Planning board of a team, a state that has substates shows one lane for each substate in place of the lane for the state. Each lane header shows the substate name, the number of stories in the lane, and the state that the
substate belongs to. After you create the first substate for a state, the lane might be empty until the background update finishes. Refresh the board to see the stories that moved to the default substate.
Figure 1. Substate lanes on the Planning board