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Manual Adjustments After AI Scheduling

AI Schedule produces a construction-logical starting point. Manual adjustments let you encode project-specific constraints the AI cannot know: client access restrictions, equipment availability windows, phased handover dates, or contractual milestone pins.

  • Hover over a task bar in the Gantt until the link handle — a small circle — appears at the right edge of the bar.
  • Drag from the handle to the target successor task and release.
  • The default link type is Finish-to-Start.
  • To change the link type or add a lag: right-click the link arrow to open the link context menu, or open the Task Detail Panel (right-click the task bar, then Edit task) and modify the predecessor entry there.
  • Link types supported: FS (Finish-to-Start), SS (Start-to-Start), FF (Finish-to-Finish), SF (Start-to-Finish).
  • To delete a link: right-click the link arrow in the Gantt and choose Delete link.

Linking multiple tasks at once​

For linking several tasks in one go, select more than one task bar before right-clicking:

  • Ctrl+Click (or Cmd+Click on Mac) task bars to build a multi-selection. Each selected bar gets a numbered badge (①②③…). Ctrl+Click a summary (WBS heading) bar to select its whole leaf subtree in one action.
  • With 2 or more tasks selected, right-click any one of them to open the link context menu. Alongside the usual pairwise link-type options, the footer offers:
    • Chain All [FS] — links the selection sequentially in the order you selected them (①→②→③→…), all Finish-to-Start.
    • Star From ① — links every other selected task to the first one you selected (①→②, ①→③, …), all Finish-to-Start.
    • Remove All Links Between Selected — clears any existing links among the selected tasks.

These are manual actions — the links they create behave exactly like a hand-drawn link. For an AI-assisted alternative that infers construction-logical sequencing for a selection instead of a fixed chain or star pattern, see Refine Selection — Targeted AI Re-sequencing.

User-set predecessors are stored in the predecessors column in the database, separate from the ai_predecessors column used by AI inference. This separation ensures your manual work is never silently replaced.

When Protect my links is on (the default):

  • Items with any user-set predecessor link are skipped by AI inference entirely. The AI does not add, change, or remove links on those items.
  • On items the AI does process, user-set links always take merge priority — the AI can add new AI links but cannot replace yours.

When Protect my links is off:

  • The AI may now suggest links for all items, including those with existing user-set links.
  • However, user-set links still win at merge time. The only practical difference is that the AI may add additional AI-suggested links to items that already have user-set ones, potentially introducing parallelism the AI judges beneficial.

Start constraints (pinning a task)​

Drag a task bar left or right in the Gantt to pin its start date. This writes a start_constraint_day value that the CPM engine respects, shifting downstream successors as needed.

Use start constraints for:

  • Milestone dates such as regulatory inspections or client occupancy
  • Equipment delivery windows where a task cannot begin until a crane or shutter arrives
  • Work that cannot start before a specific calendar date regardless of predecessor logic

Task splitting​

Right-click a task bar in the Gantt and select Split Task Here to model a planned work interruption — for example, a weekend shutdown during a concrete pour, or a three-day demobilisation window mid-task. The split creates two or more segments that the CPM engine treats as a single logical task with a gap.

Splits are preserved across AI re-runs and are included in all export formats (MS Project XML, Excel, Power BI).

Logging progress​

Right-click a task bar and choose Log Progress (or open the Task Detail Panel and expand the Progress and Actuals section) to record:

  • Actual start and finish dates
  • Actual quantity completed
  • Percentage complete

The Gantt renders an earned-value progress bar inside the task bar. Progress data drives the S-curve earned-value overlay — the EV line is plotted against the planned cumulative curve up to the data date you set in the S-curve panel.

Re-scoring after manual changes​

After manually adjusting links, click Re-score — visible in the AI Schedule modal footer after any previous run — to update the S-curve quality badge without triggering a new AI inference run. The re-score computes the four S-curve metrics against the current cash-flow distribution and refreshes the badge immediately. No LLM call is made.

tip

Use Re-score each time you make a significant manual change. If the score drops sharply after linking two tasks, it may indicate an unintended concentration of cost — worth inspecting the S-curve chart before continuing with further adjustments.

Next step​

Refine Selection — Targeted AI Re-sequencing →

See also​