Checks View: Error detection and critical path analysis

Checks View is where Soufflé validates your project plan and identifies the critical path that determines your minimum timeline. This view catches planning errors that could lead to inaccurate timelines and shows you exactly which tasks control your project schedule.

Understanding Checks View

When you enter Checks View, you'll see two main sections in the right sidebar:

Critical Paths Analysis shows toggle switches for each path type:

  • Critical Path with information tooltip and toggle switch
  • At-Risk Path with information tooltip and toggle switch
  • Secondary At-Risk Path with information tooltip and toggle switch

Errors displays any planning problems that need to be resolved before you can advance to Visualize and Export views.

The map on the left displays your tasks in full view with problematic elements highlighted, making it easy to spot issues even in complex projects.

Understanding Critical Path Results

What Critical Path Means

The critical path represents the longest sequence of dependent tasks from project start to completion. Understanding this path helps you focus attention on the tasks that most directly control your timeline.

Using Path Information

Use critical path analysis to make informed decisions about resource allocation, timeline negotiations, and risk management. Critical path tasks deserve the most attention for schedule monitoring and risk mitigation.

Path Changes

Your critical path may change as you adjust task estimates, add or remove dependencies, or modify your project structure. The analysis updates automatically as you make changes to your plan.

Critical Path Analysis

Soufflé calculates and displays your project's critical path analysis with three color-coded path types:

Critical Path (Red)

These are the tasks that determine your minimum project timeline. Any delay in critical path tasks will directly extend your project completion date. These tasks have no scheduling flexibility - they must be completed as planned to meet your timeline.

At-Risk Path (Orange)

These tasks could become critical if delayed. They have limited scheduling flexibility, and significant delays could push them onto the critical path, affecting your overall timeline.

Secondary At-Risk Path (Yellow)

These tasks have moderate impact potential. They have more scheduling flexibility than the tasks in the at-risk path but still warrant attention to prevent timeline impacts.

Path Visibility Controls

Toggle switches allow you to control the visibility of each path type in your analysis. Each path type has a tooltip that describes the path and how to identify it, helping you understand the significance of different task categories.

Automatic Error Detection

Soufflé automatically scans your project for four types of planning problems that would prevent accurate timeline calculation:

1. Missing Task Title

Tasks need names for identification and clear communication. Any task without a title will generate an error card prompting you to add a descriptive name.

2. Missing Days of Effort

Tasks need time estimates for timeline calculation. Any task without a days of effort value will generate an error card. Even if you're uncertain about the estimate, you must provide your best guess to proceed.

3. Floaters (Tasks Not Connected to Goal)

Every task should have a clear path back to your project goal. Tasks that are disconnected - "floating" without dependencies - indicate incomplete planning and will prevent timeline calculation.

4. Circular Dependencies

This occurs when Task A depends on Task B, which depends on Task A, creating an impossible loop. For example: "Design prototype" depends on "Order materials," which depends on "Design prototype." These circular relationships must be broken to create a valid timeline.

Error Resolution Process

Error Card Display

Each error appears as a card in the right sidebar with an error count (like "Error 1/6") to indicate a total number of errors, along with detailed description of the problem. The cards identify which task has the issue and explain exactly what needs to be fixed.

Resolving Errors

Each error card has a "Resolve Error" button. When you click "Resolve Error," Soufflé will highlight the problematic element on your map so you can easily locate and fix the issue.

Error Card Examples

  • Missing Days of Effort: "Design robot chef" task needs a time estimate to calculate your project timeline
  • Missing Task Title: One of your tasks needs a title to identify it in your project plan
  • Disconnected Milestone: "Location ready" milestone isn't connected to your goal. Connect it to include it in your timeline

Review Process

After making changes to fix an error, the error card interface changes to show two new options:

  • Cancel button: Undoes any changes you made and returns to the original state
  • Review Error button: Prompts Soufflé to check whether the error has been resolved

Error Resolution Outcomes

After clicking "Review Error," one of three things happens:

  • Error is resolved: The error card disappears, indicating successful resolution
  • Error still exists: The card changes back to the default "Resolve Error" view, indicating the error has not been resolved
  • New error created: If your change creates another error in the process, a new error card can be created and added to the list.
Workflow Requirements

Must Resolve All Errors

Until you have cleared all error cards, the Visualize and Export views will remain disabled (tabs grayed out). This prevents incomplete planning from generating misleading timelines.

Map Interaction

While in Checks View, you can still interact with your dependency map to fix errors. You can add missing connections, edit task names, or adjust dependencies as needed to resolve the identified issues.

Common Error Resolution Scenarios

Fixing Floaters

To resolve disconnected tasks, either connect them to other tasks in your dependency chain or remove them if they're not actually necessary for your project goal.

Resolving Circular Dependencies

Break circular dependencies by removing one of the conflicting connections and establishing the correct dependency sequence. Think through what actually needs to happen first.

Adding Missing Information

For missing task titles or effort estimates, return to Resource Plan View to complete the required fields, then come back to Checks View to verify the errors are resolved.

Moving Forward

Once all errors are resolved and you've reviewed your up-to-date critical path analysis, you can advance to Visualize View to see your automatically generated Gantt chart and then to Export View to create deliverables for stakeholders.

Signs you're ready for Checks View

  • All error cards have been resolved and disappeared
  • Critical path analysis displays properly with color-coded paths (when toggled on)
  • Your dependency map shows a clear, logical flow from start to goal
  • You understand which tasks are on the critical path

If you're still seeing errors

  • Read error card descriptions carefully to understand what needs to be fixed
  • Use the highlight functionality to locate problematic elements
  • Consider whether disconnected tasks are actually necessary for your project
  • Review your dependencies to ensure they reflect the actual work sequence
Related Topics
  • Need to fix dependency issues? See Diagram View in Core Features
  • Need to add missing task details? Return to Resource Plan View in Core Features
  • Ready to see your timeline? Continue to Visualize View in Core Features
  • Having trouble with diagram tools? See Project Planning Issues in Troubleshooting
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