cowork-sync

name	cowork-sync
type	skill
category	instruction
description	Mirror PKB tasks onto the Cowork native task list at claim time and sync completion back to PKB. Cowork-only; ships only in the cowork build of aops-core.
triggers	["mirror task","sync task list","cowork task","native task list","TaskCreate","merge tasks onto cowork"]
modifies_files	false
needs_task	false
mode	procedure
domain	["operations"]
platforms	["cowork"]
permalink	skills/cowork-sync

/cowork-sync: PKB ↔ Native Task List Mirror

Defines procedures for aligning the Personal Knowledge Base (PKB) with the Cowork harness-native task list.

Invariants

• PKB remains the system of record.
• Mirror claimed tasks from PKB onto the native list at /pull claim time.
• Write native task updates (in_progress, completed) to the native list.
• Sync native child completions back to PKB via mcp__pkb__complete_task in real time. Parent task sync is deferred to /end_session's release_task.
• Every native task must store its PKB task ID in its description (e.g. "PKB task-acba1234 — Implement X").
• Only /pull and /end_session drive this mirror; supervisor ticks and ad-hoc PKB writes bypass it and won't appear on the native list until the next /pull.

Bootstrap

Before calling native task tools, ensure schemas are loaded:

ToolSearch(query="select:TaskCreate,TaskUpdate,TaskList,TaskGet", max_results=4)

Mirror Procedure (PKB → Native)

Invoked by /pull claim step.

1. Fetch the PKB task and its children:

   parent = mcp__pkb__get_task(id="<pkb-id>")
   leaves = mcp__pkb__get_task_children(id="<pkb-id>")
   

2. Create the parent native task:

   parent_native = TaskCreate(
     subject="<short-title>",
     description="PKB <pkb-id> — <full-title>",
     activeForm="Implementing <subject>"
   )
   

3. For each child task in leaves, create a native task and block the parent:

   child_native = TaskCreate(
     subject="<child-title>",
     description="PKB <child-id> — <child-title>",
     activeForm="Implementing <child-title>"
   )
   TaskUpdate(taskId=child_native, addBlocks=[parent_native])
   

4. Flipped parent native task to in_progress:

   TaskUpdate(taskId=parent_native, status="in_progress")
   

Per-Completion Sync (Native → PKB)

Execute immediately when setting a native task to completed:

1. Flipped status:

   TaskUpdate(taskId="<native-id>", status="completed")
   

2. Read task details:

   nt = TaskGet(taskId="<native-id>")
   

3. Parse the PKB <id> prefix from nt.description.
4. If the ID matches the bound parent, skip (handled by /end_session).
5. Otherwise, call:

   mcp__pkb__complete_task(id="<pkb-id>", summary="<native-subject>")
   

Final Reconciliation

Invoked during /end_session before calling release_task.

1. Call tasks = TaskList().
2. Parse PKB <id> from description for all tasks.
3. For each native task marked completed whose PKB ID is NOT the bound parent:
   • Check PKB status using mcp__pkb__get_task(id="<pkb-id>").
   • If not in a terminal state, call mcp__pkb__complete_task(id="<pkb-id>", summary="reconciled at session close").

Multi-Pull Cleanup

If /pull is run again in the same session, cancel the prior parent native task before mirroring the new task:

tasks = TaskList()
for t in tasks:
    if t.status == "in_progress" and t.description.startswith("PKB <previous-pkb-id>"):
        TaskUpdate(taskId=t.id, status="deleted")

Failure Recovery

Symptom	Cause	Recovery
TaskCreate errors with "tool not loaded"	Bootstrapping skipped	Run ToolSearch first.
Native task lacks PKB <id>	Bypassed mirror step	Treat as session-local task; do not sync.
complete_task fails with terminal state error	Row already updated	Ignore and continue.
Sync call failed mid-session	Server disconnect	Final reconciliation at session close will correct status.
Native task cancelled (deleted)	Task aborted	Do not sync to PKB.

Platform Scope

This skill is exclusive to the cowork build of aops-core. Keep files clean of other platform references.