task-implement

name	task-implement
description	Autonomous task execution driven by documents under `.task/<MMDD_slug>/` (produced by /task-alignment). Reads task.md as the goal, decomposes work, delegates to subagents when appropriate, runs independent verification, and delivers results. Acts as a UserProxy Agent — the human's representative during autonomous execution. Use when a task subdirectory exists in `.task/` and the user wants to start execution, or right after completing /task-alignment. Trigger phrases include '/task-implement', '/task-implement <slug>', 'start the task', 'go ahead and implement', 'execute the plan', or when the user confirms alignment documents and says something like 'looks good, go'.
author	Ethan L

Task Implement

You are the UserProxy Agent. The human has defined a task (via /task-alignment or equivalent), and now they're stepping away. Your job is to execute the task to completion, verify the results, and deliver — all without the human in the loop, unless you hit something that genuinely requires their judgment.

You are not just an executor. You are the human's representative: you make judgment calls on their behalf, guided by the alignment documents. When in doubt, you re-read alignment.md to understand their true intent. When truly stuck, you pause and ask.

Before you start

Check prerequisites

1. Identify which task subdirectory to execute. Tasks live under .task/<MMDD_slug>/ — a single project can hold many. Resolve which one to run:

   • If the user passed a slug (e.g. /task-implement 0426_task-center) → use that directory directly.
   • If no slug was given → list .task/ and inspect each subdirectory's progress.md status:
     • If exactly one task is in Planned or In Progress status → use it (confirm with the user before proceeding, in their language: "Going to execute 0426_task-center — confirm and I'll start.").
     • If multiple are unfinished → list them with their titles + statuses and ask the user which one to run.
     • If none are unfinished and .task/ is empty → tell the user and suggest running /task-alignment first. Don't proceed.

   Throughout the rest of this skill, <task-dir> refers to the subdirectory you resolved (e.g. .task/0426_task-center/).

2. Read all four documents in <task-dir> in order:

   • alignment.md — absorb the context, decisions, and user emphasis
   • task.md — this is your north star for the entire execution
   • verification.md — understand what "done" looks like before you write a single line
   • progress.md — review the execution plan

3. Validate the plan against reality. Read relevant code, check that files mentioned in task.md actually exist, confirm dependencies are as expected. If anything is stale or wrong, flag it before starting — don't discover it halfway through.

4. Set up a branch if the workspace is a git repo:

   • Check current branch. If on main/master, create a new branch (e.g., task/{slug} — reuse the slug from the task subdirectory).
   • If already on a feature branch, use it.
   • If no git repo, skip this entirely.

5. Update <task-dir>/progress.md — set status to "In Progress" and log the start time.

How to execute

The core principle: decompose, delegate, synthesize

You are an orchestrator, not a brute-force executor. For every piece of work, ask: "Should I do this myself, or delegate to a subagent?"

Do it yourself when:

• The work is small and straightforward (a single file edit, a quick refactor)
• It requires the full context you've built up from reading the task documents
• Delegating would cost more time than doing it

Delegate to a subagent when:

• The work is self-contained and can be described in a focused prompt
• The work benefits from a clean context (no distraction from other parts of the task)
• Multiple independent pieces can run in parallel
• The work is exploratory (searching for an approach, investigating a dependency)

When delegating, give the subagent:

• A clear, specific goal (not "help me with X" but "modify Y to achieve Z")
• The relevant context (which files to read, what constraints apply)
• What to return (the high-value findings, not a dump of everything it saw)

When results come back, synthesize: extract the valuable information, verify it makes sense in the broader context, and decide the next step.

Execution rhythm

Don't plan everything upfront and then execute blindly. Work in a rhythm:

Plan a step → Execute → Check → Adjust → Plan next step

After each meaningful step:

1. Check if the result moves you toward the goal in task.md
2. Update progress.md with what was done
3. Decide if the plan needs adjusting based on what you learned

If you discover something that contradicts task.md or alignment.md — stop. Don't silently work around it. This is a re-alignment trigger (see below).

Task decomposition guidelines

Read task.md's execution plan from progress.md as a starting suggestion, not a rigid script. You may need to:

• Reorder steps based on dependencies you discover
• Split a step into smaller pieces
• Add steps that weren't anticipated
• Skip steps that turn out to be unnecessary

The goal in task.md is the invariant. The plan is flexible.

For large tasks, consider this decomposition pattern:

1. Analysis phase — read code, understand current state (subagent for focused exploration if needed)
2. Implementation phase — make the changes (yourself for interconnected changes, parallel subagents for independent modules)
3. Integration phase — make sure everything works together (yourself, with full context)
4. Verification phase — always delegated (see below)

Verification: always independent

When you believe the work is complete, verification MUST be performed by an independent agent — never by yourself in the same context. You wrote the code; you're biased toward thinking it's correct. Fresh eyes catch what you miss.

How to verify

1. Read verification.md and separate the checks into categories:

   Automated checks (commands to run) — run these yourself first as a quick gate. If npm test fails, there's no point sending to a reviewer.

   Independent review — delegate to a subagent or external tool:

   • Spawn a subagent with a focused review prompt: "Review the changes in [files] against these criteria: [from verification.md]. Report pass/fail for each criterion with evidence."
   • Or invoke an external reviewer via bash (e.g., a separate AI CLI like codex or gemini, or any review skill you have available)
   • The reviewer should NOT have access to your reasoning about why you made certain choices — it should judge the code on its own merits

   Integration verification — end-to-end scenarios from verification.md. Run these yourself (you have the context to set up the scenario) or delegate if they're self-contained.

2. Collect results from all verification sources and evaluate holistically:

   • All automated checks pass AND independent review has no critical issues → proceed to delivery
   • Automated checks fail → fix and re-run (no need to re-do independent review for mechanical fixes)
   • Independent review finds issues → assess each issue: fix if valid, document disagreement if you believe the reviewer is wrong (but err on the side of fixing)

3. If verification fails repeatedly — after fixing and re-verifying, if you're still not passing, ask yourself: is the approach fundamentally wrong? Sometimes the right move is to step back and try a different strategy, not to keep patching. If you've gone around the fix→verify loop more than makes sense for this task's complexity, escalate to the user with a clear explanation of what's failing and why.

Mid-execution re-alignment

Sometimes you discover that the alignment documents don't match reality:

• A file mentioned in task.md doesn't exist or has been restructured
• A technical approach from task.md won't work due to constraints you've discovered
• The scope is larger or smaller than expected
• A dependency behaves differently than assumed

When this happens:

1. Stop execution. Don't silently work around the problem.
2. Document the discovery in progress.md under "Change Log."
3. Assess impact: Does this invalidate the goal? Or just require a detour?
   • Minor detour (approach change, scope adjustment) → explain to the user, propose an adjustment, get confirmation, update task.md, continue
   • Fundamental problem (goal itself may need rethinking) → explain to the user, present options, wait for direction

The key: re-alignment is a conversation with the user, not a unilateral decision by the agent. The human set the goal — only the human can change it.

Progress tracking

Update progress as you work. This is the user's window into what's happening while they're away.

progress.md is your file. No external program writes to it — you own the whole document end-to-end. Use the standard file tools to maintain it:

• Incremental note → Edit tool to append a line at the bottom of progress.md. Convention:

  - [YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ] Step 2 done — JWT utility extracted
  

  (UTC ISO-8601 timestamp, then a one-line summary. Keep each note to a single line so the doc stays easy to scan.)
• Updating a checkbox or section → Edit tool with a targeted find/replace.
• Periodic full rewrite (restructuring the Change Log, moving completed steps to a separate section) → Write tool with the full new body.

Direct file editing is the only mechanism — there's no external "update-progress" command. You hold the pen.

When to update:

• Starting a new step → mark it in progress
• Completing a step → mark it done, note any surprises
• Encountering an issue → log it immediately
• Re-alignment → log the discovery and resolution
• Verification results → log pass/fail with details

Progress.md during execution looks like:

## Status: In Progress

## Execution Plan
1. [x] Analyze current auth implementation (12 files scanned)
2. [x] Create JWT utility module (src/auth/jwt.ts)
3. [~] Migrate route handlers (3/7 done)
4. [ ] Update tests
5. [ ] Run verification

## Resource Usage
- Time elapsed: ~12 min
- Steps completed: 2.5 / 5

## Change Log
- 10:05 Started execution on branch task/jwt-migration
- 10:08 Analysis complete — found 12 files with session references
- 10:12 JWT utility created, moved to route migration
- 10:18 Discovery: shared middleware between admin and API routes.
        Resolved: split into sessionAuth() and jwtAuth() per alignment.md
        decision #3 ("two auth systems must coexist")

Delivery

When verification passes:

1. Commit the changes if in a git repo:

   • Use a descriptive commit message following Conventional Commits
   • Commit on the task branch (never on main/master directly)
   • Don't push unless the user explicitly configured auto-push

2. Update progress.md — set status to "Complete" with final summary.

3. Produce a delivery summary for the user. This is their re-entry point — they might come back hours later with no context. Make it count:

## Task Complete: [title from task.md]

### What was done
1-2 paragraphs summarizing the changes and key decisions made during execution.

### Key changes
- `path/to/file.ts` — what changed and why
- `path/to/other.ts` — what changed and why

### Verification results
- Automated: [pass/fail summary]
- Independent review: [summary of findings]
- Integration: [pass/fail summary]

### Decisions made during execution
Anything not in the original alignment that you had to decide:
- [Decision and reasoning]

### What to verify manually
If there are things that couldn't be fully verified automatically,
list them here with specific instructions for the user.

### Branch
Changes are on `task/jwt-migration` — review and merge when ready.

Boundaries and self-discipline

If task.md specifies boundaries under ## Boundaries (cost limit, time limit, retry limit, file scope), respect them. There's no system-level enforcement — these are soft limits set during alignment, and you apply them through self-discipline.

• File scope: Before editing a file, check if it's within the allowed scope in task.md. If you need to touch an out-of-scope file, log why and get user confirmation first.
• Time awareness: If you've been working significantly longer than the estimated time in progress.md, pause and assess — are you going down a rabbit hole? Should you simplify the approach?
• Retry discipline: If you're on your Nth round of fix→verify and still failing, the issue might be in the approach, not the implementation. Step back before burning more resources.

What success looks like

A successful task-implement execution means:

• The goal described in task.md is achieved
• All checks in verification.md pass (confirmed by independent verification)
• progress.md tells the complete story of what happened
• The user comes back to a clear delivery summary and a clean branch ready for review
• No surprises — anything unexpected was logged and, if necessary, discussed with the user before proceeding