Task Board Management

Purpose

AI Agents follow this skill to manage task boards - the central tracking system for all development work. This skill is MANDATORY and is always executed during Step 4 (Category Closing) of the task lifecycle.

Operations:

•Locate or create task boards
•Create tasks on the board
•Update task states and properties
•Query tasks by various criteria

Important Notes

Important: This skill is the foundation for all task execution. when executing any task type skill, the agent MUST follow the general workflow mentioned below to ensure every steps are fully covered.

Important: If Agent DO NOT have skill capability, can directly go to .github/skills/ folder to learn skills. And SKILL.md file is the entry point to understand each skill.

Input: Task Data Model

This skill receives the Task Data Model from task execution:

yaml

Task:
  # Core fields
  task_id: TASK-XXX
  task_type: <Task Type>
  task_description: <≤50 words>
  category: <category>
  role_assigned: <Role Name>
  status: <status>
  last_updated: <MM-DD-YYYY HH:MM:SS>
  
  # Execution fields (from task type skill)
  next_task_type: <Task Type> | null
  require_human_review: true | false
  task_output_links: [<links>] | null
  {Dynamic Attributes}: <from task type skill>
  
  # Control fields
  auto_proceed: true | false

Task States

State	Terminal?	Description
`pending`	No	Created, waiting
`in_progress`	No	Being worked on
`blocked`	No	Waiting for dependency
`deferred`	No	Human paused
`completed`	Yes	Done
`cancelled`	Yes	Stopped

Valid Transitions

code

pending → in_progress
in_progress → completed | blocked | deferred | cancelled
blocked → in_progress
deferred → in_progress

Task Board Operations

Operation 1: Init Task Board

When: No task board exists Then: Create from template

code

1. Use template from `templates/task-board.md`
2. Create at `x-ipe-docs/planning/task-board.md`
3. Initialize with default settings:
    - auto_proceed: false
    - Empty task lists
4. Return board location

Operation 2: Locate Task Board

When: Need to access task board Then: Find or create board

code

1. Most of the time, task board is at `/x-ipe-docs/planning/task-board.md``
2. IF not found:
   → Trigger Operation 1: Init Task Board
3. Return board location

Operation 3: Create Task

When: New task needed (Step 1: Task Planning) Then: Add to board

code

Input: Task Data Model (from planning)

Process:
1. Locate task board
2. Generate next task_id (TASK-XXX format)
3. Create task record with:
   - task_id, task_type, category
   - role_assigned, status: pending
   - last_updated: current timestamp
4. Add to Active Tasks section
5. Update Quick Stats

Task ID Generation:

code

1. Find highest existing TASK-XXX number
2. Increment by 1
3. Format as TASK-XXX (zero-padded 3 digits)
   Example: TASK-001, TASK-002, ..., TASK-999

Operation 4: Update Task Status

When: Task state changes (Step 4: Category Closing) Then: Update board with Task Data Model

code

Input: Task Data Model (from task execution)

Process:
1. Locate task on board by task_id
2. Validate state transition
3. Update all fields from Task Data Model:
   - status, last_updated
   - task_output_links
   - category (if changed)
4. ⚠️ CRITICAL - Handle terminal status:
   IF status = completed:
     → REMOVE task row from "Active Tasks" section
     → ADD task row to "Completed Tasks" section
     → Include category_level_change_summary in Notes column
   IF status = cancelled:
     → REMOVE task row from "Active Tasks" section  
     → ADD task row to "Cancelled Tasks" section
     → Include cancellation reason in Reason column
5. Update Quick Stats:
   - Decrement Total Active (if moved out of Active)
   - Increment Completed Today (if completed)

IMPORTANT: Completed tasks must be MOVED (deleted from Active, added to Completed), NOT just have their status updated while remaining in the Active Tasks section.

Operation 5: Query Tasks

When: Need task information Then: Search board

code

Query Types:
1. By task_id: Find specific task
2. By status: List all tasks with status
3. By task_type: List all tasks of type
4. By role: List all tasks assigned to role
5. All active: List non-terminal tasks

Return: Matching task(s) or empty if none found

Operation 6: Update Auto-Proceed

When: Changing advance behavior Then: Update board setting

code

Input:
  - auto_proceed: true | false

Process:
1. Locate task board
2. Update auto_proceed in Global Settings
3. Confirm change

Operation 7: Validate Board Integrity (DoD Check)

When: ANY operation is performed on the task board Then: Validate and fix misplaced tasks

code

Process:
1. Scan Active Tasks section:
   FOR each task in Active Tasks:
     IF status = completed:
       → MOVE to Completed Tasks section
       → Log: "Fixed: TASK-XXX moved to Completed"
     IF status = cancelled:
       → MOVE to Cancelled Tasks section
       → Log: "Fixed: TASK-XXX moved to Cancelled"

2. Scan Completed Tasks section:
   FOR each task in Completed Tasks:
     IF status ≠ completed:
       → MOVE back to Active Tasks section
       → Log: "Fixed: TASK-XXX moved to Active"

3. Scan Cancelled Tasks section:
   FOR each task in Cancelled Tasks:
     IF status ≠ cancelled:
       → MOVE back to Active Tasks section
       → Log: "Fixed: TASK-XXX moved to Active"

4. Reconcile Quick Stats:
   - Count actual tasks in each section
   - Update stats if mismatched
   - Log any corrections made

5. Return validation report:
   - tasks_fixed: [list of moved tasks]
   - stats_corrected: true | false

⚠️ MANDATORY: This operation runs automatically as the final step of ALL other operations (Create, Update, Query, etc.) to ensure board integrity.

Task Board Sections

The task board has these sections:

Global Settings

yaml

auto_proceed: false  # Controls task chaining

Active Tasks

Task ID	Task Type	Category	Role	Status	Next Task

Contains: pending, in_progress, blocked, deferred tasks ONLY ⛔ NEVER contains completed or cancelled tasks

Completed Tasks

Task ID	Task Type	Category	Completed	Category Changes

Contains: Tasks with status = completed ONLY ✅ Tasks MUST be moved here when completed (removed from Active)

Cancelled Tasks

Task ID	Task Type	Reason	Cancelled

Contains: Tasks with status = cancelled ONLY ❌ Tasks MUST be moved here when cancelled (removed from Active)

Status Symbols

Status	Symbol	Description
pending	⏳	Waiting to start
in_progress	🔄	Working
blocked	🚫	Waiting for dependency
deferred	⏸️	Paused by human
completed	✅	Done
cancelled	❌	Stopped

Category Legend

Category	Description
Standalone	No additional board tracking
feature-stage	Updates feature board via feature-stage+feature-board-management
requirement-stage	Updates requirement board via requirement-stage+requirement-board-management

Templates

•templates/task-board.md - Task board template
•templates/task-record.yaml - Individual task template

Examples

Example 1: Create Task Board and First Task

Request: "Start tracking a new feature implementation"

code

Step 1: Locate Task Board
→ Not found in project root
→ Not found in x-ipe-docs/ or .github/
→ Create new board

Step 2: Create Task
→ task_type: Code Implementation
→ role_assigned: Nova
→ Generate task_id: TASK-001
→ status: pending
→ next_task_type: Feature Closing

Result: Board created at task-board.md with TASK-001

Example 2: Update Task Status

Request: "Mark TASK-001 as in progress"

code

Step 1: Locate Task Board
→ Found at task-board.md

Step 2: Find Task
→ TASK-001 found in Active Tasks

Step 3: Validate Transition
→ pending → in_progress ✓ Valid

Step 4: Update
→ status: in_progress
→ last_updated: 2026-01-15T10:30:00

Result: TASK-001 now in_progress

Example 3: Complete Task and Move

Request: "Complete TASK-001"

code

Step 1: Locate Task Board
→ Found at task-board.md

Step 2: Find Task
→ TASK-001 found in Active Tasks

Step 3: Validate Transition
→ in_progress → completed ✓ Valid

Step 4: Update
→ status: completed
→ last_updated: 2026-01-15T11:00:00
→ Move from Active Tasks to Completed Tasks

Step 5: Update Stats
→ Total Active: -1
→ Completed Today: +1

Result: TASK-001 moved to Completed Tasks

Example 4: Query Tasks

Request: "Show all blocked tasks"

code

Step 1: Locate Task Board
→ Found at task-board.md

Step 2: Query
→ Filter: status = blocked
→ Search Active Tasks section

Result:
- TASK-003: Technical Design (blocked)
- TASK-007: Code Implementation (blocked)

Example 6: Board Integrity Validation

Scenario: Task board has misplaced tasks after manual edits

code

Initial State (corrupted):
  Active Tasks:
    - TASK-001: Code Implementation | ✅ completed  ← WRONG!
    - TASK-002: Bug Fix | 🔄 in_progress
    - TASK-003: Feature Closing | ❌ cancelled  ← WRONG!
  
  Completed Tasks:
    - TASK-004: Technical Design | 🔄 in_progress  ← WRONG!

Step 1: Scan Active Tasks
→ TASK-001 status=completed → Move to Completed Tasks
→ TASK-003 status=cancelled → Move to Cancelled Tasks

Step 2: Scan Completed Tasks
→ TASK-004 status=in_progress → Move to Active Tasks

Step 3: Reconcile Stats
→ Total Active: 2 (was showing 3)
→ Corrected

Result:
  Active Tasks:
    - TASK-002: Bug Fix | 🔄 in_progress
    - TASK-004: Technical Design | 🔄 in_progress
  
  Completed Tasks:
    - TASK-001: Code Implementation | ✅ completed
  
  Cancelled Tasks:
    - TASK-003: Feature Closing | ❌ cancelled

Validation Report:
  tasks_fixed: [TASK-001, TASK-003, TASK-004]
  stats_corrected: true