Quests — Guided Process Framework

A standardized framework for AI agents to track and guide humans through complex long-term tasks. The quest is the single source of truth — context, decisions, contacts, risks, and progress live inside the quest, not scattered across memory files.

Philosophy

•One step at a time: quest next shows only the current task — no overwhelm
•Quest as memory: quest context gives the agent everything needed in minimal tokens
•Living document: Steps can be added, removed, reordered, and modified at any time
•Human-friendly: quest brief generates summaries suitable for messaging

CLI: `skills/quests/scripts/quest.py` (symlink as `quest`)

Data stored at $WORKSPACE/data/quests.json. Quest IDs are auto-generated from names (slugified).

Conventions

•Auto-resolution: When only one quest is active, the quest argument is optional
•Fuzzy matching: Quests match by exact ID, ID prefix, or name substring
•Optional args: quest done with no step completes the current active step

Quick Start

bash

quest new "Fix car" --priority high --deadline 2026-06-01
quest add car "Get documents" --desc "Gather all paperwork"
quest substep car 1 "Find insurance certificate"
quest learn car "Tax exemption requires 12 months abroad"
quest decide car "Use contract dates as proof" --reason "No PERE registration"
quest contact car "Agency" --phone "555-1234" --role "Tax office"
quest next car                    # Present current step to human
quest done car 1.1                # Mark substep done
quest context car                 # Reload full context (~1K tokens)

Resuming a Quest (New Session)

bash

quest list                        # Find active quests
quest context myquest             # Load full state — replaces reading memory files
quest next myquest                # Present current step to human

Commands Reference

Quest lifecycle:

•new <name> [--desc] [--priority low|medium|high] [--deadline DATE] [--tags a,b]
•list [--all] — list active (or all including archived)
•delete <quest> [--archive] — archive is reversible, delete is permanent

Steps (fully flexible):

•add <quest> <title> [--desc] — append a step
•insert <quest> <position> <title> [--desc] — insert at specific position
•remove <quest> <step> — remove a step or substep (e.g. 3 or 2.1)
•substep <quest> <step> <title> — add substep to a step
•done [quest] [step] — complete step/substep (auto-advances to next)
•skip [quest] [step] — skip a step
•block <quest> <step> <reason> — mark step as blocked
•unblock <quest> <step> — unblock
•edit <quest> [step] [--title] [--desc] — edit step or quest-level fields
•reorder <quest> <step> <position> — move step to new position

Context & Memory (the core feature):

•learn <quest> <fact> — record a key fact (quest-level, affects all steps)
•decide <quest> <decision> [--reason] — record a decision with rationale
•risk <quest> <concern> — flag a risk or concern
•note <quest> <step> <text> — add a note to a specific step (step-level)
•summarize <quest> <text> — update the high-level context summary
•context [quest] [--json] — compact context dump (~500-1500 chars)
•brief [quest] — human-friendly summary for async messaging
•log [quest] [-n LIMIT] — timestamped activity log

learn vs note: Use learn for facts that affect the whole quest ("Tax exemption requires 12 months"). Use note for step-specific info ("Carlos said he has the CoC already").

Metadata:

•meta <quest> [--priority] [--deadline] [--tags a,b] [--remove]
•contact <quest> [name] [--phone] [--email] [--role] [--url] — add or list contacts
•link <quest> [url] [--label] — add or list reference links

Templates:

•template save <quest> [template_name] — save quest structure as reusable template
•template list — list available templates
•template use <template> [quest_name] — create new quest from template

Display:

•next [quest] — current step only (for presenting to human)
•show [quest] [-v] — full quest with all steps and context
•status [quest] — quick progress overview

Export:

•export <quest> [--file path] — markdown export
•json [quest] — raw JSON (all quests if no arg)

Agent Guidelines

When (Not) to Create a Quest

•Create: Multi-session processes, bureaucratic tasks, anything >3 steps spanning multiple days
•Don't create: Simple one-off tasks, quick lookups, things that fit in one conversation

Starting a New Quest

•Create with quest new — set priority and deadline if known
•Add 5-12 steps with quest add (use substeps for granularity)
•Record initial facts with quest learn
•Add contacts, links, and risks as discovered
•Present first step with quest next

Session Resumption

At the start of any session involving an existing quest:

•quest list — check what's active
•quest context <id> — reload full state (replaces reading memory files)
•quest next <id> — see where the human left off

During the Process

•Record everything: facts (learn), decisions (decide), risks (risk)
•Update summary with quest summarize as understanding evolves
•Add/remove/reorder steps freely as the process changes
•Use quest brief when messaging the human asynchronously (WhatsApp/Discord recap)
•Use quest next in interactive conversation

Presenting to Humans

•Always use quest next — never show the full step list unprompted
•When human completes something → quest done → auto-advances
•When blocked → quest block with clear reason
•When human provides info → quest learn or quest note

Multiple Active Quests

Auto-resolution only works with one active quest. When multiple are active, always specify the quest ID explicitly.

Quest Completion

When all steps are done, the quest auto-completes. Consider:

•quest export <quest> --file to save a permanent record
•quest template save if the process might repeat
•quest delete <quest> --archive to clean up while preserving data

Token Efficiency

•quest context outputs ~500-1500 chars with full situational awareness
•No need for separate memory files, trackers, or project docs
•The quest IS the memory — facts, decisions, contacts, risks, all in one place
•Use quest context --json for structured programmatic access