| name | task-archiver |
| description | archives a local agent task directory so it can be recalled for future reference |
Skill: Task Archiver
Archive completed task projects by compressing artifacts while preserving a human-readable summary.
When to Use
Use this skill when:
- A task project is complete (or abandoned) and no longer actively worked on
- You want to preserve the full history but reduce clutter
- The project has already been moved to
.agent-tasks/archive/
- The project is finished but needs to be moved to
.agent-tasks/archive (will be requested by user)
Input Requirements
You must be provided:
- Project path — Full path to the archived project folder (e.g.,
.agent-tasks/archive/20260130-facebook-api-v24-upgrade)
Behavior
1. Validate Project Structure
Verify the project has:
- An
ORCHESTRATOR.md file (required - serves as the summary)
- At least one of:
complete/
If ORCHESTRATOR.md is missing, stop and ask the user to create one or provide an alternative summary.
2. Generate Archive Metadata
Create ARCHIVE_INFO.md with:
- Archive date
- Original project name
- File/folder inventory (what's being compressed)
- A quick one sentence summary for each of all completed tasks
- Instructions for restoring
3. Create Compressed Archive
Using tar, compress all subdirectories:
tar -czvf artifacts.tar.gz complete/ pending/ testing/ agent-transcripts/ --ignore-failed-read
Note: --ignore-failed-read handles missing folders gracefully.
4. Clean Up Original Folders
After successful compression, remove the original folders:
complete/
pending/
testing/
agent-transcripts/
NOTE: you MUST delete these empty directories
Keep these files uncompressed:
ORCHESTRATOR.md — Primary summary document
ARCHIVE_INFO.md — Archive metadata
IMPLEMENTATION_COMPLETE.md — If present, useful summary
artifacts.tar.gz — The compressed archive
5. Report Results
Provide:
- Confirmation of successful archive
- List of preserved summary files
- Size comparison (before/after)
- Instructions for restoration
Archive Structure (Final)
NOTE: if not done yet, the task/project folder MUST be moved to .agent-tasks/archive/
archive/[project-name]/
├── ORCHESTRATOR.md # Human-readable project summary
├── ARCHIVE_INFO.md # Archive metadata and restore instructions
├── IMPLEMENTATION_COMPLETE.md # (if present)
└── artifacts.tar.gz # Compressed: all task folders and transcripts
Restoration Instructions
To restore an archived project:
cd .agent-tasks/archive/[YYYYMMDD-task-folder]
tar -xzvf artifacts.tar.gz
Example Invocation
Use the task-archiver skill to archive:
- Project: .agent-tasks/archive/20260130-facebook-api-v24-upgrade
ARCHIVE_INFO.md Template
# Archive Information
**Project:** [Project Name]
**Archived:** [Date]
**Archived By:** Cursor Agent
## Contents
The following folders have been compressed into `artifacts.tar.gz`:
| Folder | File Count | Description |
|--------|------------|-------------|
| complete/ | X files | Completed task definitions |
| pending/ | X files | Remaining/skipped tasks |
| testing/ | X files | Testing strategies |
| agent-transcripts/ | X files | Agent execution logs |
## Restoration
To extract the archived contents:
\`\`\`bash
tar -xzvf artifacts.tar.gz
\`\`\`
## Summary
See `ORCHESTRATOR.md` for the complete project summary, task list, and progress notes.
Quality Checklist
Before archiving, verify:
Notes
- The skill preserves
ORCHESTRATOR.md uncompressed because it serves as the project's historical record
- If the project has an
IMPLEMENTATION_COMPLETE.md or similar summary file, preserve it as well
- Agent transcripts can be large; compression significantly reduces storage
- The archive can always be fully restored with a single
tar command