tq-cancel

name	tq-cancel
description	Cancel a tq action with improvement suggestions, then judge task-level completion and propose follow-up actions when work remains
argument-hint	[action_id]
allowed-tools	Bash(tq *)

tq action cancel

IMPORTANT: Run !tq action cancel --help first to understand the expected reason format.

Find action_id

1. $ARGUMENTS if numeric
2. The action/task IDs stated under the ## tq action context heading appended to the prompt (e.g. "You are executing action #123 (task #45).")
3. Search non-terminal actions: tq action list --status running or tq action list --status dispatched
4. If none works, ask the user

Investigate before cancelling

Review the task's action history to understand why this action was created:

tq action list --task <task_id>

Read each action's result to trace the chain of decisions that led to this action.

Settle residual work before cancelling

A cancel reason is mostly classification feedback, but cancelling sometimes surfaces real work — a different approach to take, an improvement worth acting on. Same discipline as /tq:done: residual work that lives only in a cancelled action's reason text is invisible to tq action list and /tq:triage, so nobody picks it up. Split the reason accordingly:

1. Classification feedback only. Why this action was unnecessary, how routing could improve. No work is owed — keep it as prose in the reason.

2. Residual work owed. A different approach or improvement suggestion that someone must actually do. File it as a tracked action and link it:

   tq action create '<self-contained instruction>' --title '<title>' --task <task_id>
   

   Reference the returned id in the reason: next: <what to do> → #<id>.

Get <task_id> from the ## tq action context heading or tq action get <action_id> --jq .task_id. Write the instruction the way /tq:create-action would — goal-first, self-contained, with verification. You only have Bash(tq *) here, so call tq action create directly. If tq action create fails, state in the reason that the follow-up could not be filed and must be re-filed — never leave residual work as untracked prose.

Execute

tq action cancel <action_id> '<reason>'

After cancelling: task-level follow-up

Always run this flow — do not wait for the user to ask "what's next?".

1. tq action list --task <task_id> + review the cancellation reason you just recorded.
2. Classify the task:
   • Done — task goal already achieved by other actions, or the task is no longer relevant.
   • Follow-up needed — speculative task-level next steps not already captured as a → #<id> reference (a broader change worth its own task). Propose 1–2 candidates (title + one-line purpose) and ask the user to create via /tq:create-action. Do not auto-create these — they are judgment calls, unlike the residual-work tracking actions above, which you file yourself because they record work you already know is owed.
   • External blocker only — the cancellation was due to an external dependency (waiting for upstream fix, review, etc.). State explicitly: "Task # stays open, waiting on ." If that residue carries future work of its own, it must already have its → #<id>.
3. Close the task only when classification is Done: tq task update <task_id> --status done --note "<why>" (--note required with --status).

Constraints:

• If the cancellation reason or action history contains incomplete signals, classification cannot be Done.
• Dedup: skip the proposal if an active (pending/running/dispatched) action with the same purpose already exists for this task.