task-tracking

Purpose

Agents working on multi-step tasks need a way to track progress that survives session boundaries. A task that spans hours or days will be picked up by an agent with no memory of what was already done. This skill defines a file-based to-do format that any persona can create, update, and resume — so the next session starts where the last one stopped.

Procedure

1. Check for an existing to-do. Run ls .memory/todo/ 2>/dev/null to list existing to-do files. If a to-do file for the current task already exists, read it and resume from the first unchecked item. Do not recreate.

2. Create a to-do from the plan or task brief. If no existing to-do matches, run the following command to create the file — replace the placeholders with real values:

   mkdir -p .memory/todo && cat > .memory/todo/YYYY-MM-DD-<prefix>-<slug>.md << 'TEMPLATE'
   # <Task Title>
   
   **Slug:** <prefix>-<slug>
   **Source:** plan | task-brief
   **Created:** YYYY-MM-DD
   **Updated:** YYYY-MM-DD
   
   ## Items
   
   - [ ] First item
   - [ ] Second item
   
   ## Log
   
   - YYYY-MM-DD: Created from plan/task-brief.
   TEMPLATE
   

   Then populate the items from impl.md epics and file lists, or from the task brief's acceptance criteria. Each item must be a concrete, verifiable action — not a vague category.

   Target directory: .memory/todo/ — always at the project root, never anywhere else.

   Naming convention: The filename uses the pattern YYYY-MM-DD-<prefix>-<slug>.md, where <prefix> is the conventional-commit type and <slug> is a short kebab-case summary — the same convention used for branch names (follows: rules/git.md). Examples: .memory/todo/2026-02-18-feat-user-auth.md, .memory/todo/2026-02-18-fix-login-redirect.md. If a git branch already exists for this work, derive the prefix and slug from the branch name.

3. Update as you go. After completing each item, mark it [x] and add a log entry if the outcome was notable (unexpected decision, deviation from plan, blocker encountered). Do not batch updates — mark items done as they finish.