# Dependencies (blocked by)

> Mark that a card waits for another card – the permit before the flyer. A hint on the card while a blocker is open, a notice when everything it waited for is done, and a page with every blocked card. A Power-Up, no Gantt chart.

Source: https://contals.com/docs/en/power-ups/dependencies/  
Last updated: 2026-10-16

Some work has an order: the permit comes before the flyer, the venue before the invitations. The **Dependencies** Power-Up lets a card say "blocked by" another card on the same board. While a blocker is open, the card shows **Blocked · 1** on its front; when the blocker is done, the hint disappears by itself. There are no dates, lags or charts – just the link.

Board admins switch it on: board → **Power-Ups** → **Dependencies** (in the planning group). Like every Power-Up it is part of every plan.

## Mark a card as blocked

1. Open the card that has to wait.
2. In the **Blocked by** section, choose **Add a blocker**.
3. Type part of the other card's title or its number (`GEM-12`) and pick it – or press **Enter** for the first match.

Editors and admins add and remove blockers. Cards that are done, and cards that would end up waiting for each other, are not offered: a card can never (even through other cards) wait for itself. A card waits for at most 10 cards and blocks at most 50.

The section lists the blockers with their state – open, done, archived – and opens one with a click. **Waiting for this card** lists the cards that wait for the open one. Remove a link with **×** next to it; [undo](/docs/en/boards/undo/) brings it back.

## When is a card blocked?

A blocker blocks while its card is open – not done and not archived. Completing or archiving the blocker clears the hint; the link stays (it shows the blocker as done) until someone removes it. A blocker that moved to another board or was deleted blocks nothing.

## The page with every blocked card

The board header gets the entry **Blocked**: every open card that waits for an open card, with what it waits for. Filter it by list. Click a card or a blocker to open it.

## The notice when a card can start

When someone completes the last open card another card was waiting for, the people assigned to the waiting card get a notice: "Ready to start: everything the card waited for is done". It arrives in the [inbox](/docs/en/finding/inbox/) by default; under [notifications](/docs/en/finding/notifications/) → **Power-Ups** you can get it by push or e-mail too. The person who completed the blocker is not told about their own step.

## Copies, moves and imports

- A **board copy** and a board made from a **template** take the links between their cards.
- A single card that is **copied or moved** to another board leaves its links behind (the other card is not there).
- Archived boards keep their links; nothing changes while they are archived.
- Our own [export](/docs/en/data/export/) and [import](/docs/en/guides/import/) keep the links. Trello has no dependencies, so a Trello import brings none; imports from Jira, Asana and other CSV or Excel files leave them out.