Checklist Manager

Overview

Manage multiple medium-to-large projects (10+ tasks each) with sequential dependencies using structured checklists. Checklists are stored in docs/checklists/active/ with unique filenames, and completed work is archived to docs/checklists/archive/. This skill provides workflows for creating, listing, switching, planning, tracking, updating, and archiving task progress systematically.

Directory Structure:

code

docs/checklists/
├── active/
│   ├── 2025-01-07-demo-data-update.md
│   └── 2025-01-08-oauth-migration.md
└── archive/
    └── 2024-12-20-ui-refactoring.md

Naming Convention: YYYY-MM-DD-[task-name].md

Workflow Decision Tree

Use this decision tree to determine which workflow to follow:

code

User request
├─ "Create a checklist" / Starting new project
│  └─> Go to: Creating a New Checklist
│
├─ "List checklists" / "What am I working on?"
│  └─> Go to: Listing Active Checklists
│
├─ "Switch to [task]" / Change active task
│  └─> Go to: Switching Between Checklists
│
├─ "What's next?" / "Plan my work"
│  └─> Go to: Planning Short-Term Work
│
├─ Task completed / Progress made
│  └─> Go to: Updating Checklist Progress
│
├─ "Is the project done?" / Review status
│  └─> Go to: Reviewing Project Status
│
└─ "Archive [task]" / Work completed
   └─> Go to: Archiving Completed Work

Creating a New Checklist

When to use: User explicitly requests checklist creation, or Claude detects a complex project requiring structured tracking.

Process:

•
Understand project scope
- •Identify all files, components, and systems to be modified
- •Clarify dependencies between tasks
- •Estimate total task count (should be 10+)
- •Determine a concise task name (e.g., "oauth-migration", "demo-data-update")
•
Generate filename
- •Format: YYYY-MM-DD-[task-name].md
- •Use current date (2025-01-07)
- •Task name: lowercase, hyphen-separated, descriptive
- •Example: 2025-01-07-oauth-migration.md

•

Create directory structure if needed

bash

# Create directories if they don't exist
mkdir -p docs/checklists/active
mkdir -p docs/checklists/archive

•
Structure the checklist
- •Use the template from assets/checklist-template.md
- •Organize tasks by file, component, or logical grouping
- •
  Each section should include:
  - •File/Component name: Clear identifier
  - •Task items: Specific, actionable items with - [ ] checkboxes
  - •Verification items: How to confirm task completion
•
Define dependencies
- •Order sections by dependency (prerequisites first)
- •Add warnings/notes for critical dependencies
- •Mark optional vs. required tasks clearly
•
Add completion criteria
- •Define what "done" means
- •Include integration tests
- •Specify acceptance criteria
•
Save checklist
- •Save to docs/checklists/active/YYYY-MM-DD-[task-name].md
- •Confirm to user with filename and location

Example:

code

✅ Created checklist: docs/checklists/active/2025-01-07-oauth-migration.md

This checklist tracks the OAuth 2.0 migration project with 15 tasks across 5 components.

See also: references/checklist-examples.md for project-specific examples

Listing Active Checklists

When to use: User asks "what am I working on?", "list checklists", or needs to see all active tasks.

Process:

•

List all active checklists

bash

# Use Glob to find all active checklists
Glob docs/checklists/active/*.md

•
Read each checklist header
- •
  Read first 20 lines of each file to get:
  - •Title (# [Project Name])
  - •作業概要 (work summary)
  - •Quick progress estimate by counting checkboxes

•

Display formatted list

code

📋 Active Checklists (2):

1. 2025-01-07-demo-data-update.md
   Title: Demo Data Update
   Summary: Update demo data from SD/MM to AP/AR/GL
   Progress: ~80% (48/60 tasks)

2. 2025-01-08-oauth-migration.md
   Title: OAuth 2.0 Migration
   Summary: Replace basic auth with OAuth
   Progress: ~20% (3/15 tasks)

Type the filename or number to switch to a checklist.

Switching Between Checklists

When to use: User wants to work on a different active task.

Process:

•
Confirm which checklist to switch to
- •If user specifies filename or number from list, use that
- •If unclear, show list and ask user to choose

•

Read the target checklist

bash

Read docs/checklists/active/[selected-file].md

•
Display current status
- •Show progress summary
- •Highlight next incomplete section
- •Ask if user wants to plan next work

Example:

code

🔄 Switched to: 2025-01-08-oauth-migration.md

📊 Progress: 3/15 tasks complete (20%)

Next up: Section 2 - Login Component (5 tasks remaining)

Ready to plan next work? (Yes/No)

Planning Short-Term Work

When to use: Beginning a work session, or user asks "what's next?"

Process:

•
Determine which checklist to use
- •If only one active checklist exists, use it
- •If multiple exist, ask user which one to work on
- •If none exist, suggest creating one

•

Read current checklist

bash

# Read the selected active checklist
Read docs/checklists/active/[filename].md

•
Identify next tasks
- •Find first incomplete section with unchecked - [ ] items
- •Check for dependency warnings
- •
  If previous section incomplete, warn user:
  code
  ⚠️ Warning: Section [X] is not complete yet. Recommended to complete it first due to dependencies. Proceed anyway? (Yes/No)
•
Create short-term plan
- •Select 1-3 related tasks from the same section
- •Explain what will be done and why
- •Estimate scope (number of files, complexity)
- •Confirm with user before proceeding

Example:

code

📋 Working on: 2025-01-07-demo-data-update.md

Based on checklist, next up:

Section 2: Dashboard Page (app/dashboard/page.tsx)
   - [ ] Update review queue data (AP/AR/GL only)
   - [ ] Update domain distribution chart

This involves:
- Modifying 1 file (app/dashboard/page.tsx)
- Updating 2 data arrays
- Testing chart rendering

Ready to proceed?

Updating Checklist Progress

When to use: After completing one or more tasks.

Process:

•
Determine which checklist was being worked on
- •Use context from recent work
- •If unclear, ask user which checklist to update

•

Read current checklist

bash

Read docs/checklists/active/[filename].md

•
Identify completed tasks
- •Review what was just accomplished
- •Map to specific checklist items
- •Include verification items if tested
•
Update checkboxes
- •Change - [ ] to - [x] for completed items
- •Update ALL completed items in this session
- •Add comments if needed (e.g., - [x] Task 1 )

•

Save and confirm

bash

Edit docs/checklists/active/[filename].md
# Update checkboxes

•Confirm update to user with summary:

code

✅ Checklist updated: 2025-01-07-demo-data-update.md
- Completed: Task X, Task Y
- Section progress: 4/7 items done
- Overall progress: 50/60 tasks (83%)

•
Check for completion and auto-archive
- •After updating checkboxes, check if all items are complete
- •Count remaining incomplete items: grep "^- \[ \]" [filename].md
- •
  If NO incomplete items remain (all are - [x]):
  code
  ✅ All tasks complete! Auto-archiving checklist...
  - •Immediately proceed to archive workflow:
    bash
    mv docs/checklists/active/[filename].md docs/checklists/archive/[filename].md
  - •Confirm archival:
    code
    📦 Archived: [filename].md Location: docs/checklists/archive/[filename].md Final status: [N]/[N] tasks complete (100%)
  - •If other active checklists exist, offer to switch to one
  - •If no active checklists remain, congratulate user on completion

Important:

•Update immediately after task completion (not batched)
•Be precise - only mark items actually completed
•If task partially done, add note but keep unchecked
•ALWAYS check for completion after updating - auto-archive if all done

Reviewing Project Status

When to use: User asks for status, or periodically during long projects.

Process:

•
Determine which checklist to review
- •If user specifies, use that
- •If unclear and multiple exist, show list and ask
- •If only one exists, use it

•

Read current checklist

bash

Read docs/checklists/active/[filename].md

•
Calculate progress
- •Count total - [x] vs - [ ] items
- •Report per-section progress
- •Identify remaining work

•

Report status

code

📊 Project Status: 2025-01-07-demo-data-update.md

Overall: 45/60 tasks complete (75%)

Sections:
✅ 1. Business Page: 8/8 (100%)
✅ 2. Dashboard Page: 7/7 (100%)
🔄 3. Tickets Page: 5/8 (63%)
⬜ 4. Ideas Page: 0/5 (0%)
⬜ 5. Settings Page: 0/3 (0%)

Next up: Complete Section 3, then start Section 4

•
Suggest next actions
- •Recommend what to work on next
- •Highlight blockers or dependencies
- •Estimate remaining effort if possible

Archiving Completed Work

When to use: All tasks in a checklist are complete, or user requests archiving.

Process:

•
Verify completion
- •Read the checklist to confirm all - [ ] items are - [x]
- •Check completion criteria section
- •
  If not fully complete, warn user:
  code
  ⚠️ Warning: This checklist has 5 incomplete tasks. Archive anyway? (Yes/No)

•

Move to archive

bash

# Move file from active to archive
mv docs/checklists/active/[filename].md docs/checklists/archive/[filename].md

•

Confirm to user

code

✅ Archived: 2025-01-07-demo-data-update.md

Location: docs/checklists/archive/2025-01-07-demo-data-update.md
Final status: 60/60 tasks complete (100%)

Remaining active checklists: 1

•
Suggest next steps
- •If other active checklists exist, offer to switch to one
- •If no active checklists, ask if user wants to create a new one

Handling Dependencies

Warnings-only mode (default):

•Check previous sections for incomplete items

•Issue warning but allow proceeding:

code

⚠️ Dependency Warning:
Section 1 has incomplete items:
- [ ] Task X
- [ ] Task Y

Recommended to complete these first.
Continue with Section 2? (Yes/No)

Flexible mode (parallel work allowed):

•Only warn for critical dependencies
•Allow working on independent sections simultaneously

File Naming Best Practices

Good names:

•2025-01-07-oauth-migration.md - Clear, specific
•2025-01-08-react-hooks-refactor.md - Descriptive
•2025-01-10-postgres-migration.md - Concise

Avoid:

•2025-01-07-fix.md - Too vague
•2025-01-07-update-everything.md - Not specific
•2025-01-07-oauth_migration_project_v2.md - Underscores, version numbers

Resources

assets/

•checklist-template.md: Basic template for new checklists

references/

•checklist-examples.md: Example checklists for different project types (refactoring, feature development, migration, etc.)