Kanban Task Generator

Purpose

Generate properly formatted task entries for Chief Wiggum's .ralph/kanban.md file. This skill analyzes existing tasks and dependencies to create well-structured, interlinked task sets.

When This Skill is Invoked

Manual invocation:

• •User wants to add new tasks to the kanban
• •User has a feature idea that needs to be broken into tasks
• •User has completed /wiggum-ideas and wants to formalize selected ideas

From other skills:

• •After /wiggum-plan identifies work items
• •After /wiggum-ideas generates approved ideas

Core Workflow

Phase 1: Analyze Existing Kanban

Read .ralph/kanban.md and gather context:

• •What tasks already exist?
• •What's the highest task number? (for ID assignment)
• •What dependencies exist between tasks?
• •What tasks are in progress [=] or pending approval [P]?
• •What prefix pattern is used? (TASK-, FEATURE-, etc.)

Critical: Never skip this phase. Dependencies must reference real tasks.

Phase 2: Clarify Requirements

Use AskUserQuestion to gather missing information based on findings.

AskUserQuestion Format:

- question: Clear, specific question ending with ?
- header: Short label (max 12 chars)
- multiSelect: false (unless choices aren't mutually exclusive)
- options: 2-4 specific choices grounded in kanban analysis
  - label: Concise choice text (1-5 words)
  - description: Context about trade-offs or implications

Question types:

• •Scope: Should this be one task or multiple?
• •Dependencies: Does this depend on existing tasks?
• •Priority: Is this blocking other work?
• •Sizing: How should we break this down?

Phase 3: Design Task Structure

For complex features, break into multiple tasks:

• •Each task should be reasonably sized (1 worker, 1 session)
• •Set dependencies so tasks execute in correct order
• •Tasks without dependencies can run in parallel
• •Use Scope field to break down individual tasks further

Phase 4: Present and Add Tasks

• •Present all tasks with dependency graph
• •Use AskUserQuestion to confirm before adding
• •Add to the ## TASKS section of .ralph/kanban.md
• •Verify all IDs are unique

For task format specifications, see references/task-format.md. For dependency patterns, see references/dependency-patterns.md.

Example

User: /kanban Add user authentication with JWT

Assistant: I'll analyze the existing kanban first.

[Reads .ralph/kanban.md]

Found 12 tasks. TASK-008 (User model) is complete, TASK-010 (API routing) is pending approval [P].

[Uses AskUserQuestion]

questions:
  - question: What authentication features should be included?
    header: Auth scope
    multiSelect: true
    options:
      - label: Login endpoint
        description: POST /auth/login with credential validation
      - label: Registration endpoint
        description: POST /auth/register with input validation
      - label: Password reset
        description: Forgot password flow with email verification
      - label: Token refresh
        description: Refresh expired tokens without re-login

User selects: Login endpoint, Registration endpoint, Token refresh

Assistant: [Uses AskUserQuestion]

questions:
  - question: What priority level for these tasks?
    header: Priority
    multiSelect: false
    options:
      - label: CRITICAL
        description: Blocking all other work, needs immediate attention
      - label: HIGH
        description: Important, blocking dashboard work
      - label: MEDIUM
        description: Important but not blocking other tasks

User selects: HIGH

Assistant: Based on analysis, I'll create 3 interlinked tasks. Note TASK-010 is [P] so won't satisfy dependencies until merged.

- [ ] **[TASK-013]** Create JWT authentication utilities
  - Description: Create JWT token generation and validation utilities
  - Priority: HIGH
  - Complexity: MEDIUM
  - Dependencies: TASK-008

- [ ] **[TASK-014]** Create authentication middleware
  - Description: Create Express middleware to validate JWT tokens
  - Priority: HIGH
  - Complexity: LOW
  - Dependencies: TASK-013

- [ ] **[TASK-015]** Create auth routes (login/register)
  - Description: Create login and registration endpoints with token refresh
  - Priority: HIGH
  - Complexity: MEDIUM
  - Dependencies: TASK-013, TASK-014, TASK-010

Dependency graph:

TASK-008 [x] ─── TASK-013 ─┬─ TASK-014 ─┬─ TASK-015
                           └────────────┘
TASK-010 [P] ─────────────────────────────┘

[Uses AskUserQuestion]

questions:
  - question: Add these tasks to .ralph/kanban.md?
    header: Confirm
    multiSelect: false
    options:
      - label: Yes, add all
        description: Add all 3 tasks to kanban
      - label: Modify first
        description: I want to change something before adding

Key Principles

1. •Always analyze first - Read kanban before generating tasks
2. •Ground in findings - Dependencies must reference real tasks
3. •Reasonable sizing - Each task completable in one worker session
4. •Explicit dependencies - Show dependency graph for clarity
5. •Confirm before writing - Always ask before modifying kanban

Progressive Disclosure

This SKILL.md contains the core workflow. For detailed guidance:

• •Task format: references/task-format.md
• •Dependency patterns: references/dependency-patterns.md
• •Sizing guidelines: references/sizing-guidelines.md