Add Task Skill

You are helping the user add a new task to an existing tracker. Tasks are organized by phase and track, with metadata like priority, complexity, and acceptance criteria.

Your Task

Add a new task to an existing tracker, updating both the task list and the tracker's overview statistics.

Process Flow

Step 1: Parse Arguments and Find Tracker

1. •

   Parse $ARGUMENTS for:

   • •Tracker name (first argument)
   • •Optional flags:
     • •--phase=N - Phase number
     • •--track=name - Track name
     • •--priority=value - Priority level
     • •--complexity=value - Complexity level
2. •

   If tracker name not provided:

   • •List available trackers:
     bash

     ls -1 .trackers/
     

   • •If no trackers exist:
     • •Inform user: "No trackers found. Create one with /create-tracker"
     • •Exit
   • •If trackers exist:
     • •Show list to user
     • •Ask: "Which tracker would you like to add a task to?"
     • •Wait for response
3. •

   Verify tracker exists:

   • •Check if .trackers/{TRACKER_NAME}/TRACKER.md exists
   • •If not found:
     • •Inform user: "Tracker '{TRACKER_NAME}' not found"
     • •List available trackers
     • •Exit
4. •

   Read the tracker file:

   • •Use Read tool on .trackers/{TRACKER_NAME}/TRACKER.md
   • •Parse the content to extract:
     • •Existing phases
     • •Existing tracks
     • •Current task count
     • •Next available task number

Step 2: Gather Task Information

Ask the user for task details (skip if provided via arguments):

1. •

   Task Title:

   code

   What is the task title?
   Example: "Implement user login API"
   

2. •

   Phase (if not provided via --phase):

   code

   Which phase is this task in?
   
   Available phases:
   1. Phase 1: {NAME}
   2. Phase 2: {NAME}
   ...
   
   Enter phase number:
   

3. •

   Track (if not provided via --track):

   code

   Which track does this task belong to?
   
   Existing tracks: {LIST_TRACKS}
   
   Enter track name (or create new):
   

4. •

   Priority (if not provided via --priority):

   code

   What is the priority? (High/Medium/Low)
   Press Enter for Medium:
   

5. •

   Complexity (if not provided via --complexity):

   code

   What is the complexity? (High/Medium/Low)
   Press Enter for Medium:
   

6. •

   Description:

   code

   Provide a brief description of the task (optional):
   

7. •

   Acceptance Criteria:

   code

   Add acceptance criteria? (y/n)
   Press Enter to skip:
   

   If yes:

   code

   Enter acceptance criteria (one per line, empty line to finish):
   -
   

8. •

   Dependencies:

   code

   Does this task depend on other tasks? (y/n)
   Press Enter for no:
   

   If yes:

   code

   Enter task numbers this task is blocked by (comma-separated):
   Example: 01, 03, 05
   

9. •

   Create plan file?:

   code

   Create a detailed plan file for this task? (y/n)
   Press Enter for no:
   

Step 3: Calculate Task Number

1. •

   Parse existing tasks from tracker file:

   • •Find all task numbers in the format "Task NN:"
   • •Extract the highest number
   • •New task number = highest + 1
   • •Format with zero-padding: 01, 02, 03, etc.
2. •

   Generate plan filename (if plan file requested):

   • •Sanitize task title (lowercase, hyphens, remove special chars)
   • •Format: {TASK_NUMBER}-{sanitized-title}.md
   • •Example: 05-implement-user-login.md

Step 4: Add Task to Tracker

1. •

   Find the correct phase section in the tracker file:

   • •Locate: ### Phase {N}: {NAME}
   • •Find the subsection for the track or create it
2. •

   Build task entry:

##### Task {TASK_NUMBER}: {TASK_TITLE}
**Status**: Pending
{IF_PLAN_FILE}**Plan File**: {PLAN_FILENAME}{END_IF}
**Priority**: {PRIORITY}
**Complexity**: {COMPLEXITY}
{IF_BLOCKED_BY}**Blocked By**: {TASK_NUMBERS}{END_IF}

{DESCRIPTION}

{IF_ACCEPTANCE_CRITERIA}
**Acceptance Criteria**:
{FOR_EACH_CRITERION}
- [ ] {CRITERION}
{END_FOR_EACH}
{END_IF}

---

1. •

   Insert task into tracker:

   • •Find the section: ### Phase {N}: {PHASE_NAME}
   • •Find or create subsection: #### Track: {TRACK_NAME}
   • •If track doesn't exist in this phase, create the track header
   • •Append the task entry
   • •Use Edit tool to insert at the correct location
2. •

   Update Overview section:

   • •Increment "Total Tasks" count
   • •Update "Completed" ratio (still 0% if new task is pending)
   • •If new track was created, increment "Total Tracks"
3. •

   Update Track status (if exists in Tracks section):

   • •Find: ### Track: {TRACK_NAME}
   • •Update task count: "{N}/{M} tasks complete"
   • •If new track, add it to the Tracks section:
   markdown

   ### Track: {TRACK_NAME}
   **Phase Coverage**: {PHASE_NUMBER}-{MAX_PHASE}
   **Status**: Not Started (0/1 tasks complete)
   

4. •

   Update metadata:

   • •Update updated: field in frontmatter to current date

Step 5: Create Plan File (if requested)

If user requested a plan file:

1. •Create plan file at .trackers/{TRACKER_NAME}/plans/{PLAN_FILENAME}:

# Task {TASK_NUMBER}: {TASK_TITLE}

**Phase**: {PHASE_NUMBER} - {PHASE_NAME}
**Track**: {TRACK_NAME}
**Priority**: {PRIORITY}
**Complexity**: {COMPLEXITY}
**Status**: Pending
{IF_BLOCKED_BY}**Blocked By**: Task {TASK_NUMBERS}{END_IF}

## Description

{DESCRIPTION}

## Acceptance Criteria

{FOR_EACH_CRITERION}
- [ ] {CRITERION}
{END_FOR_EACH}

## Implementation Plan

_Add detailed implementation steps here_

## Notes

_Add any additional notes, context, or decisions here_

## Progress Log

### {CURRENT_DATE}
- Task created

1. •Save the plan file using Write tool

Step 6: Confirm Addition

Inform the user:

Task added successfully!

**Task Number**: {TASK_NUMBER}
**Title**: {TASK_TITLE}
**Phase**: {PHASE_NUMBER} - {PHASE_NAME}
**Track**: {TRACK_NAME}
**Priority**: {PRIORITY}
**Complexity**: {COMPLEXITY}
**Status**: Pending
{IF_PLAN_FILE}
**Plan File**: .trackers/{TRACKER_NAME}/plans/{PLAN_FILENAME}
{END_IF}

**Tracker updated**:
- Total tasks: {NEW_TOTAL}
- Task added to Phase {N}
{IF_NEW_TRACK}
- New track created: {TRACK_NAME}
{END_IF}

**Next steps**:
- Review tracker: /review-tracker {TRACKER_NAME}
- Add another task: /add-task {TRACKER_NAME}
- Update task status: /update-tracker {TRACKER_NAME} --task={TASK_NUMBER}

View tracker: .trackers/{TRACKER_NAME}/TRACKER.md

Important Notes

• •Task numbers are auto-incremented and zero-padded (01, 02, 03...)
• •Tasks are inserted into the correct phase and track section
• •Overview statistics are updated automatically
• •New tracks are created automatically if they don't exist
• •Plan files are optional but recommended for complex tasks
• •All edits maintain the tracker's markdown structure
• •The tracker file is the single source of truth

Examples

Example 1: Quick Task Addition

/add-task my-app
> Title: "Setup authentication framework"
> Phase: 1
> Track: authentication
> Priority: High
> (accepts defaults for rest)

Example 2: Detailed Task with Arguments

/add-task my-app --phase=2 --track=dashboard --priority=high
> Title: "Implement data visualization widgets"
> Complexity: Medium
> Create plan file: yes
> Acceptance criteria: ...

Example 3: Task with Dependencies

/add-task my-app --phase=3
> Title: "Test authentication flow"
> Track: authentication
> Blocked by: 01, 02, 04

Error Handling

• •If tracker doesn't exist, list available trackers and exit
• •If invalid phase number, show available phases
• •If invalid priority/complexity, use default (Medium)
• •If task insertion fails, report error
• •Validate all inputs before modifying tracker
• •Preserve existing tracker structure and formatting