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The short answer

Subitems are where most cross-board setups quietly fail: native mirror columns don’t carry subitems (if you came here looking to mirror subitems, that’s why it isn’t possible natively), and copy automations either skip them or create unlinked copies. With Same Item Multiple Boards, subitems follow their parent automatically: when an item lives on several boards, its subitems exist on all of them — columns, statuses, and updates in sync, no extra setup.

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How it works

  • Share the parent item to another board (manually or via automation) — its subitems come along.
  • Add a subitem on any board the item lives on and it appears everywhere the parent does.
  • Subitem columns sync by the same rule as parent columns: matching name and type on both boards (supported columns). Check subitem column names too — they’re a separate set from the parent board’s columns, and case matters.
  • Subitem updates and replies sync like parent updates: one thread.

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Requirements and gotchas

  • Both boards must be the same board type. SIMB connects regular boards to regular boards, or multi-level boards to multi-level boards — connecting a multi-level board to a regular board (or vice versa) isn’t supported. Because of this, the destination-board list in both manual sharing and automations only shows boards of the same type as your current board; if a board you expected to see is missing, this is almost always why (see a board is missing from the destination board list).
  • On regular boards, both boards need a subitem structure. If your destination board has never had a subitem, add one once so monday creates the subitem board structure, then share. Multi-level boards always have a nested item structure, so this step doesn’t apply to them.
  • Subitem column names must match exactly across boards, including case — the #1 cause of “subitem dates aren’t syncing” (troubleshooting).
  • Rollup columns: if you use subitem rollups on the parent, keep the rollup configuration per board — the underlying values sync, the rollup display is each board’s own.

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A pattern worth knowing: subitem as a full item elsewhere

Sometimes the next team needs a subitem as a regular item on their board — a delivery sub-task that is a first-class item for the ops team. That’s a supported flow, as long as the destination board is the same board type (regular or multi-level) as the source board: share the subitem to the destination board as a main item, and it stays synced with the subitem on the source board. The destination-board list only offers same-type boards, so a cross-type move isn’t possible here either.

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FAQ

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Do subitems count toward plan limits?

Shared subitems ride with their parents; see usage limits for what counts.

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Can I sync only some subitems?

Subitems follow the parent as a set. If a subitem shouldn’t exist on the other board’s context, keep its sensitive data in columns that don’t exist on that board — same trick as client boards.

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Subitems stopped syncing — where do I start?

The Discrepancy Report first, then the sync troubleshooting checklist (column names, permissions, webhooks — in that order).