cancel

name	cancel
category	utility
status	active
description	Abort the current WorkBuddy workflow — stop background agents/processes, clear in-progress tasks, and hand back control to the user
agent_created	true
triggers	["cancel","stop","abort","cancel this","stop the task"]

Ported from oh-my-codex cancel. OMX runtime conventions ($macro invocation, omx CLI, .omx/ state directory) are replaced with WorkBuddy idioms (Skill tool, Agent tool, task list, .workbuddy/memory).

Cancel

The standard, safe way to stop whatever is currently running and exit cleanly.

WorkBuddy has no persistent "mode" state like OMX's .omx/state/*.json, so there is nothing to terminalize across sessions — but in-progress work within the current session can still be stopped. Use this skill whenever the user says "cancel", "stop", "abort", or asks to halt the current flow.

What It Does

1. Stop background work. If any background shell command (started with run_in_background) is running, stop it with the TaskStop tool (or send its task_id).
2. Stop spawned agents. If any Agent tool calls are still in flight, let them finish their current message or stop them; do not start new ones.
3. Clear the task list. Mark every in_progress task as completed only if it is genuinely done; otherwise set it back to pending so it is not silently lost, or delete it. Do not leave phantom in_progress items.
4. Preserve recoverable progress. Anything worth keeping (files written, decisions made) should already be on disk or in .workbuddy/memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md. Do not delete user files.
5. Report and yield. Tell the user what was stopped and what (if anything) remains, then stop. Do not auto-continue into another workflow.

Usage

/cancel

Or say: "cancel", "stop", "abort".

Force / Full Reset

WorkBuddy sessions are stateless between turns, so a simple "stop" already resets the flow. Use --force / --all semantics only to also:

• Clear all in-progress and pending tasks from the task list (not just the current one).
• Remove any .workbuddy/memory scratch notes you created for this run if the user wants a clean slate.

Example:

/cancel --force

Notes

• Safe by default: only the current session's in-flight work is affected; never touch unrelated files, other sessions, or global config.
• Resume-friendly: written files and memory entries survive a cancel, so the user can pick up later without re-doing completed work.
• No destructive deletion: cancelling never deletes the user's source, git history, or installed skills.