nazgul-task

name	nazgul:task
description	Task lifecycle management — skip, unblock, add, prioritize, info, and list tasks. Use when you need to manage individual tasks in the Nazgul pipeline.
context	fork
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Glob, Grep
metadata	{"author":"Jose Mejia","version":"2.7.1"}

Nazgul Task

Examples

• /nazgul:task — List all tasks with status summary
• /nazgul:task info TASK-003 — Show full details and review history for a task
• /nazgul:task skip TASK-005 — Skip a task and promote unblocked downstream tasks
• /nazgul:task unblock TASK-004 — Reset a blocked task back to READY
• /nazgul:task add "Implement rate limiting" — Create a new task
• /nazgul:task prioritize TASK-006 --before TASK-003 — Reorder task execution

Arguments

$ARGUMENTS

Current State

• Task list: !ls nazgul/tasks/TASK-*.md 2>/dev/null || echo "No tasks"
• Plan: !head -50 nazgul/plan.md 2>/dev/null || echo "No plan"

Instructions

Parse $ARGUMENTS for a subcommand and its parameters. If no subcommand is provided, default to list.

Subcommands

---

list (default)

Produce a quick status table of all tasks:

Nazgul Tasks
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
ID         Status              Description
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
TASK-001   DONE                Set up project scaffolding
TASK-002   IN_PROGRESS         Implement auth module
TASK-003   READY               Add payment processing
TASK-004   BLOCKED             Deploy to staging
TASK-005   PLANNED             Write integration tests
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Total: 5 | Done: 1 | Active: 2 | Blocked: 1 | Planned: 1

1. Read each nazgul/tasks/TASK-*.md file
2. Extract: task ID, status, and the first line of the description
3. Sort by task ID (numeric order)
4. Format as the table above
5. Include a summary line at the bottom with counts by status category

---

skip TASK-NNN

Set the specified task's status to SKIPPED.

1. Validate the task file exists: nazgul/tasks/TASK-NNN.md
2. If not found, error: "Task TASK-NNN not found."
3. Use sed to update the Status: field to SKIPPED in the task manifest
4. Scan all other task manifests for dependencies that reference TASK-NNN
5. For any task whose ONLY remaining non-DONE/non-SKIPPED dependency was TASK-NNN, promote its status from PLANNED to READY
6. Output: "TASK-NNN set to SKIPPED. [N] downstream task(s) promoted to READY."

---

unblock TASK-NNN

Reset a BLOCKED task back to READY so it can be picked up by the loop.

1. Validate the task file exists: nazgul/tasks/TASK-NNN.md
2. If not found, error: "Task TASK-NNN not found."
3. If the task is not BLOCKED, warn: "TASK-NNN is not blocked (current status: [status])."
4. Update Status: to READY
5. Clear the blocked_reason: field (set to empty or remove the line)
6. Reset retry: count to 0/3
7. Output: "TASK-NNN unblocked and set to READY. It will be picked up in the next iteration."

---

add "description"

Create a new task manifest and append it to the plan.

1. Scan existing task files to determine the next available TASK-NNN number
2. Create nazgul/tasks/TASK-NNN.md with the following template:

# TASK-NNN: [description]

- **Status:** PLANNED
- **Priority:** medium
- **Dependencies:** none
- **Retry:** 0/3
- **Created:** [ISO 8601 timestamp]
- **Source:** manual (via /nazgul:task add)

## Description
[description]

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] TBD — define acceptance criteria

## Implementation Notes
_To be filled by implementer._

3. If there are no dependencies (check if any were specified in the description), set status to READY instead of PLANNED
4. Append the task to nazgul/plan.md in the task list section
5. Output: "Created TASK-NNN: [description]. Status: [PLANNED|READY]."

---

prioritize TASK-NNN --before TASK-MMM

Reorder tasks in the plan so TASK-NNN appears before TASK-MMM.

1. Validate both task files exist
2. Read nazgul/plan.md
3. Find the lines referencing both tasks in the plan's task list
4. Remove TASK-NNN's line from its current position
5. Insert it immediately before TASK-MMM's line
6. Write the updated plan.md
7. Output: "TASK-NNN moved before TASK-MMM in the plan."

Note: This changes execution order but does NOT override dependency constraints. If TASK-NNN depends on TASK-MMM, warn the user about the circular dependency.

---

info TASK-NNN

Show full details for a specific task.

1. Validate the task file exists: nazgul/tasks/TASK-NNN.md
2. If not found, error: "Task TASK-NNN not found."
3. Read and display the full contents of nazgul/tasks/TASK-NNN.md
4. Check for review history: look for files matching nazgul/reviews/TASK-NNN-*.md
5. If review files exist, display them in chronological order:

Task Details
═══════════════════════════════════════
[full task manifest contents]

Review History
─────────────────────────────────────
[review 1 contents]
[review 2 contents]
...

6. Check for delegation briefs: nazgul/tasks/TASK-NNN-delegation.md
7. If a delegation brief exists, include it in the output

---

Error Handling

• If Nazgul is not initialized (no nazgul/config.json): "Nazgul not initialized. Run /nazgul:init first."
• If no tasks exist: "No tasks found. Run /nazgul:start to generate a plan."
• If an unknown subcommand is provided: "Unknown subcommand: [X]. Available: list, skip, unblock, add, prioritize, info"