Collaboration that works without constant meetings

Flying Donut keeps everyone aligned with real-time updates, clear assignments, and shared visibility — so your team can collaborate asynchronously and stay in sync.

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Real-time updates everywhere

Every change in Flying Donut is reflected instantly for all connected team members. When someone moves a card, updates a task, adds a comment, or changes a description, everyone sees it in real time — no refresh needed, no polling delay.

  • Board updates appear instantly: card movements, new cards, status changes
  • Backlog reordering is visible in real time across all open sessions
  • Sprint planning updates are live — multiple people can plan simultaneously
  • Burndown charts update as tasks are completed or re-estimated
  • The dashboard reflects the latest state of all active projects

How it works: Flying Donut uses WebSocket connections (STOMP over SockJS) to push changes to all connected clients. When the connection is interrupted, it automatically reconnects and refreshes the latest state.

Assigning work and tracking ownership

Clear ownership prevents work from falling through the cracks. Flying Donut supports assignment at both the card and task level:

  • Assign Me — one click to take ownership of a card from the card dropdown
  • Users — assign one or more team members to a card
  • Tasks can be independently assigned to specific team members
  • Assigned user avatars appear directly on the card in the board view
  • The Dashboard shows all your active assignments across all projects
  • The 'Show only my cards' board filter highlights your personal work-in-progress

Example — Daily standup: Each team member opens the board, clicks "Show only my cards", and sees exactly what they are working on. The standup takes 5 minutes instead of 20 because the board is the single source of truth.

Following projects and notifications

Team members can follow projects to stay informed about activity without being directly assigned to every card. Project followers receive updates when important changes happen.

  • Invited team members are automatically connected to the project
  • Follower role: read-only access with visibility into all project activity
  • Member and Admin roles: full participation with real-time visibility
  • The project activity feed shows a chronological view of all changes

Comments and discussions

Every card supports threaded comments for async discussion. Instead of sending emails or Slack messages about a work item, add a comment directly on the card so the conversation stays attached to the context.

  • Add comments from the card detail modal
  • Comments support Markdown formatting for rich text
  • Discussion threads keep conversations organized
  • Comments are visible to all project members in real time
  • Context stays with the card — no need to search email or chat history

Example — Async code review: A developer finishes a feature and adds a comment on the card: "Ready for review — see PR #342 linked in commits." The reviewer opens the card, reads the description and linked commits, and replies with feedback — all without a meeting.

Working with distributed teams

Flying Donut is built for teams that are not always in the same room — or the same timezone. Here are patterns that help distributed teams stay effective:

  • Use the board as the standup: each person updates their cards before the meeting, making standups shorter and more focused
  • Add detailed descriptions and acceptance criteria so team members in other timezones can pick up work independently
  • Mark blocked cards immediately — the red highlight ensures the next person to see the board knows about the impediment
  • Use comments for decisions so they are documented and searchable
  • Use Workmate to generate card refinements asynchronously, then review as a team

Workspaces for cross-team collaboration

When multiple projects share team members or need coordinated visibility, use Workspaces to group projects together. Workspace members gain access to all included projects, simplifying onboarding and cross-project awareness.

Common questions

Do updates work across all browsers?+
Yes. Flying Donut's real-time updates work on all modern browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge on both desktop and mobile.
What happens if I lose my internet connection?+
The WebSocket connection automatically reconnects when your network returns. The latest state is fetched immediately so you see the current board.
Can I @mention team members in comments?+
Comments support Markdown and are visible to all project members. Direct @mention notifications are on the product roadmap.
Is there an activity log?+
Yes. Each card tracks its change history, and the project shows an activity feed of recent changes.

Start collaborating in real time

Invite your team, open the board, and experience collaboration that works without constant meetings or email threads.

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