| name | task-pickup |
| kstack | true |
| description | Claim a task from your task tracker and start working on it. Use when the user says "I'm working on [task]", picks up a task from the board, or wants to start an existing task — handles lookup, conflict check, claim, status, branch naming, and context pull in one flow. |
Task Pickup
Turn "I'm working on [task]" into a claimed task with the right status and a correctly named branch — no manual tracker
fiddling.
Workflow
1. Resolve the task
Look up the task in your task tracker (see context.md for project-specific lookup method):
- Task Lookup — resolve from URL, slug, or search query
- Conflict Check — stop and warn if someone else is actively on it or it's already done
2. Derive and confirm the branch name
Derive the branch name from the task identifier + title (lowercase, hyphenated, drop filler words).
Ask the user before any git or branch registration — present the suggested name, let them adjust.
3. Claim the task and create the branch
- Claim: Set assignee, status to in-progress, and register the branch on the task (see context.md for API)
- Create the git branch — detect if Graphite is in use:
- Run
gt log short silently — if it lists branches, use gt create <branch-name>
- Otherwise
git checkout -b <branch-name>
4. Pull working context
Surface what the implementer needs before writing code:
- Task description + acceptance criteria
- Linked plan if one references this task
- Open PRs or comments on the task that constrain the work
If the task originated from a plan, suggest the implementation pipeline; otherwise implement directly.
5. PR body context (when the PR is created later)
Seed the PR body from the task:
## Why
[task description summary — the user-facing problem]
[task link]
## What
[changes summary — filled at PR time]
Confirmation
End with: "Claimed [task-slug](task url), set to In Progress, on branch slug-short-title." Plus any conflict or
context warnings surfaced along the way.
Project Context
Read context.md and apply it as additional project-specific constraints layered on top of this
workflow. If it does not exist, skip this section.
