task-coverage-protocol

name	task-coverage-protocol
description	Enforces task coverage and prevents drift via a deterministic checklist tool with output verification.

PROTOCOL: Task Coverage Checklist

This protocol governs how you must handle large, repetitive, or multi-step tasks to prevent context drift and ensure 100% task coverage. You must use a deterministic checklist tool to track progress and verify completion.

Workflow

When given a task that involves processing multiple items (e.g., "analyze all files in this directory"), follow these steps:

1. List and Count: Use a tool to list the items recursively and print the total count.

2. Initialize Checklist: Call the checklist tool to initialize a new checklist:

   python3 scripts/manage_checklist.py init --title "My Task Title"
   

3. Add Items: Iterate through the listed items and add each one to the checklist using the tool. This ensures the LLM does not skip or summarize items:

   python3 scripts/manage_checklist.py add --item "item_name" --output_check_path "path/to/output"
   

   • Rule: You MUST pass --output_check_path pointing to the file or directory where output for this item will be saved.

4. Verify Count: The tool will return the number of items added. Verify that this matches your initial count.

5. Iterate and Execute: Process the items one-by-one (or in batches if delegating to subagents).

6. Mark Done: When an item is processed and output produced, call the tool to mark it as done:

   python3 scripts/manage_checklist.py done --item "item_name"
   

   • Verification: The tool will automatically verify that output exists at the specified output_check_path and is not empty. If verification fails, the tool will error and you must redo the work for that item.

7. Conclusion: When all items are marked done, report completion to the user.

Handling Parallel Processing

If you batch items and assign them to subagents:

1. You are still responsible for the primary checklist.
2. Instruct subagents to produce output in the designated paths.
3. Call the done command on the primary checklist only after the subagent reports success and you verify their output.