smith-tasks

name	smith-tasks
description	Generate an actionable, dependency-ordered tasks.md for the feature based on available design artifacts.
handoffs	[{"label":"Analyze For Consistency","agent":"smith-analyze","prompt":"Run a project analysis for consistency","send":true},{"label":"Implement Project","agent":"smith-implement","prompt":"Start the implementation in phases","send":true}]

Workflow requirement (Smith 20+): This skill must be invoked from inside an active top-level workflow (/smith-new, /smith-bugfix, /smith-debug, /smith-build). The workflow-gate hook will block standalone invocation. To use this skill standalone, start a top-level workflow first.

Vault Logging

Throughout this action, log significant events to the vault session log. Read the session log path from .smith/vault/.current-session. If the file is missing or the vault is not initialized, skip all logging silently.

Append entries using this format:

### [HH:MM:SS] /smith-tasks <event>

**User Request:**
> <verbatim user message that triggered this action>

**Synthesized Input:** <brief summary>
**Outcome:** <what happened>
**Artifacts:** <files created/modified>
**Systems affected:** <system IDs>

Log at these points:

1. On invocation — which plan is being broken into tasks (feature name)
2. After task generation — total task count, phase count, brief list of task titles
3. After tasks.md created — path to tasks.md

User Input

$ARGUMENTS

You MUST consider the user input before proceeding (if not empty).

Outline

1. Setup: Run .specify/scripts/bash/check-prerequisites.sh --json from repo root and parse FEATURE_DIR and AVAILABLE_DOCS list. All paths must be absolute. For single quotes in args like "I'm Groot", use escape syntax: e.g 'I'''m Groot' (or double-quote if possible: "I'm Groot").

2. Load design documents: Read from FEATURE_DIR:

   • Required: plan.md (tech stack, libraries, structure), spec.md (user stories with priorities)
   • Optional: data-model.md (entities), contracts/ (API endpoints), research.md (decisions), quickstart.md (test scenarios)
   • Note: Not all projects have all documents. Generate tasks based on what's available.

3. Execute task generation workflow:

   • Load plan.md and extract tech stack, libraries, project structure
   • Load spec.md and extract user stories with their priorities (P1, P2, P3, etc.)
   • If data-model.md exists: Extract entities and map to user stories
   • If contracts/ exists: Map endpoints to user stories
   • If research.md exists: Extract decisions for setup tasks
   • Generate tasks organized by user story (see Task Generation Rules below)
   • Generate dependency graph showing user story completion order
   • Create parallel execution examples per user story
   • Validate task completeness (each user story has all needed tasks, independently testable)

4. Generate tasks.md: Use .specify/templates/tasks-template.md as structure, fill with:

   • Correct feature name from plan.md
   • Phase 1: Setup tasks (project initialization)
   • Phase 2: Foundational tasks (blocking prerequisites for all user stories)
   • Phase 3+: One phase per user story (in priority order from spec.md)
   • Each phase includes: story goal, independent test criteria, tests (if requested), implementation tasks
   • Final Phase: Polish & cross-cutting concerns
   • All tasks must follow the strict checklist format (see Task Generation Rules below)
   • Clear file paths for each task
   • Dependencies section showing story completion order
   • Parallel execution examples per story
   • Implementation strategy section (MVP first, incremental delivery)

5. Report: Output path to generated tasks.md and summary:

   • Total task count
   • Task count per user story
   • Parallel opportunities identified
   • Independent test criteria for each story
   • Suggested MVP scope (typically just User Story 1)
   • Format validation: Confirm ALL tasks follow the checklist format (checkbox, ID, labels, file paths)

Context for task generation: $ARGUMENTS

The tasks.md should be immediately executable - each task must be specific enough that an LLM can complete it without additional context.

Task Generation Rules

CRITICAL: Tasks MUST be organized by user story to enable independent implementation and testing.

Tests are OPTIONAL: Only generate test tasks if explicitly requested in the feature specification or if user requests TDD approach.

Checklist Format (REQUIRED)

Every task MUST strictly follow this format:

- [ ] [TaskID] [P?] [Story?] Description with file path

Format Components:

1. Checkbox: ALWAYS start with - [ ] (markdown checkbox)
2. Task ID: Sequential number (T001, T002, T003...) in execution order
3. [P] marker: Include ONLY if task is parallelizable (different files, no dependencies on incomplete tasks)
4. [Story] label: REQUIRED for user story phase tasks only
   • Format: [US1], [US2], [US3], etc. (maps to user stories from spec.md)
   • Setup phase: NO story label
   • Foundational phase: NO story label
   • User Story phases: MUST have story label
   • Polish phase: NO story label
5. Description: Clear action with exact file path

Examples:

• CORRECT: - [ ] T001 Create project structure per implementation plan
• CORRECT: - [ ] T005 [P] Implement authentication middleware in src/middleware/auth.py
• CORRECT: - [ ] T012 [P] [US1] Create User model in src/models/user.py
• CORRECT: - [ ] T014 [US1] Implement UserService in src/services/user_service.py
• WRONG: - [ ] Create User model (missing ID and Story label)
• WRONG: T001 [US1] Create model (missing checkbox)
• WRONG: - [ ] [US1] Create User model (missing Task ID)
• WRONG: - [ ] T001 [US1] Create model (missing file path)

Task Organization

1. From User Stories (spec.md) - PRIMARY ORGANIZATION:

   • Each user story (P1, P2, P3...) gets its own phase
   • Map all related components to their story:
     • Models needed for that story
     • Services needed for that story
     • Endpoints/UI needed for that story
     • If tests requested: Tests specific to that story
   • Mark story dependencies (most stories should be independent)

2. From Contracts:

   • Map each contract/endpoint → to the user story it serves
   • If tests requested: Each contract → contract test task [P] before implementation in that story's phase

3. From Data Model:

   • Map each entity to the user story(ies) that need it
   • If entity serves multiple stories: Put in earliest story or Setup phase
   • Relationships → service layer tasks in appropriate story phase

4. From Setup/Infrastructure:

   • Shared infrastructure → Setup phase (Phase 1)
   • Foundational/blocking tasks → Foundational phase (Phase 2)
   • Story-specific setup → within that story's phase

Phase Structure

• Phase 1: Setup (project initialization)
• Phase 2: Foundational (blocking prerequisites - MUST complete before user stories)
• Phase 3+: User Stories in priority order (P1, P2, P3...)
  • Within each story: Tests (if requested) → Models → Services → Endpoints → Integration
  • Each phase should be a complete, independently testable increment
• Final Phase: Polish & Cross-Cutting Concerns