Soft Delete & Trash

Overview

Tasks are no longer permanently deleted when you click delete. Instead they're soft-deleted (moved to Trash) and can be restored or permanently removed.

Why

Accidental deletes happen. In a real project management tool, losing a task with all its context (description, comments, history) is unacceptable. Trash provides a safety net.

How It Works

Database

• deleted_at column added to tasks table (timestamptz, nullable, default null)
• RLS SELECT policy split into two:
  • Active tasks: deleted_at IS NULL (normal board view)
  • Deleted tasks: deleted_at IS NOT NULL (trash view)
• UPDATE policy allows setting deleted_at (for soft-delete and restore)
• DELETE policy allows permanent removal

Soft Delete Flow

1. User clicks "Move to Trash" in task detail sheet
2. Confirmation dialog appears
3. On confirm: UPDATE tasks SET deleted_at = now() WHERE id = ...
4. Task disappears from Kanban board
5. Trash count badge updates in sidebar

Restore Flow

1. Click Trash in sidebar (bottom-left, above user profile)
2. Trash view dialog opens showing all deleted tasks
3. Each task shows: title, priority badge, deleted date
4. "Restore" button → sets deleted_at = NULL, task reappears on board
5. "Delete Permanently" button → actual DELETE FROM tasks, with confirmation

Empty Trash

• "Empty Trash" button at top of trash view
• Confirmation dialog warns this is irreversible
• Permanently deletes all trashed tasks for the project

UI Location

The Trash button lives in the sidebar (bottom-left, above the user profile section). This keeps it accessible from any page and follows the pattern of tools like Notion and Linear.

A badge shows the count of trashed items when > 0.

The sidebar communicates with the kanban board via custom events:

• launchpad:trash-count — board broadcasts count to sidebar
• launchpad:open-trash — sidebar tells board to open trash view

Queries

Key Files