DAG TaskView — Visual Task Tree System

Decomposes complex projects into visual DAG-based task trees with dependency tracking, progress monitoring, and critical path analysis.

When to use

• •User wants to visualize tasks and their dependencies
• •User needs to see what's blocking progress
• •User wants to know the critical path (longest dependency chain)
• •After running blueprint-maker, to convert phases into visual tasks

Step 1: Define Tasks

Accept tasks from the user in any format:

• •Natural language: "Build auth, then API endpoints, then tests"
• •YAML file (see templates/task_template.yaml)
• •From blueprint-maker output

Task format

project: "Project Name"
tasks:
  - id: unique_id
    name: "Human readable name"
    status: pending  # pending | in_progress | done | blocked
    deps: []         # list of task IDs this depends on

Step 2: Build the DAG

Run the engine:

python scripts/dag_engine.py --input tasks.yaml --output dag.md

The engine:

1. •Parses tasks and dependencies
2. •Validates the DAG (detects cycles)
3. •Computes the critical path
4. •Renders a Mermaid diagram

Step 3: Render Visualization

The output is a Mermaid diagram with color-coded status:

✅ Done       → Green  (#22c55e)
🔄 In Progress → Yellow (#eab308)
⏳ Pending    → Gray   (#64748b)
🚫 Blocked    → Red    (#ef4444)

Step 4: Track Progress

Update task statuses and regenerate the diagram:

from scripts.progress_tracker import ProgressTracker

tracker = ProgressTracker("tasks.yaml")
tracker.update("auth", "done")
tracker.update("api", "in_progress")
tracker.render("progress.md")
tracker.summary()  # Shows % complete, blockers, critical path

Step 5: Analyze

The engine provides:

• •Progress %: How much is done
• •Critical Path: The longest chain (determines minimum project time)
• •Blockers: Tasks that are blocked and what's blocking them
• •Next Actions: Tasks that can start now (all deps satisfied)

Integration

Examples

• •"Show me the task tree for building a REST API" → Auto-decompose + visualize
• •"Here are my tasks in YAML, create a DAG" → Parse + render
• •"What's the critical path for this project?" → Analyze + highlight
• •"Mark authentication as done, update the diagram" → Track + refresh