skill-task-management

Host: Codex CLI — This skill was designed for Claude Code and adapted for Codex.

Cross-reference commands use installed skill names in Codex rather than /octo:* slash commands.

Use the active Codex shell and subagent tools. Do not claim a provider, model, or host subagent is available until the current session exposes it.

For host tool equivalents, see skills/blocks/codex-host-adapter.md.

Task Management & Orchestration (v7.23.0+)

Overview

Systematic task orchestration for multi-step work, progress checkpointing, and seamless task resumption across sessions.

Core principle: Track → Checkpoint → Resume → Complete.

v7.23.0 Migration: This skill now uses native Claude Code host subagent tools:

• TaskCreate - Create new tasks
• TaskUpdate - Update task status/details
• TaskList - View all tasks
• TaskGet - Get specific task details

Benefits:

• ✅ Tasks show in native Claude Code UI
• ✅ Better progress tracking and visualization
• ✅ Consistent with Claude Code conventions
• ✅ No dependency on external task plan tool tool

When to Use

Use this skill when user wants to:

• Add items to the todo list
• Save current progress for later continuation
• Resume previously saved work
• Checkpoint progress in long-running tasks
• Proceed to next steps in a workflow
• Continue from where they left off

Do NOT use for:

• Creating git commits (use skill-finish-branch)
• Simple todo list queries ("what's on my list?")
• Task completion that involves pushing code

Core Capabilities

1. Adding Tasks to Todo List

When user says "add to the todo's" or similar:

**What would you like to add to the todo list?**

I'll help you capture this task. Please provide:
- Task description (what needs to be done)
- Any dependencies or prerequisites
- Priority (if applicable)

After getting details, use TaskCreate to add:

TaskCreate({
  subject: "[Brief task description]",
  description: "[Detailed description including dependencies and context]",
  activeForm: "Working on [task description]"
})

Then confirm to user:

✅ Task created: [Task description]

View all tasks with TaskList or use /tasks command.

2. Saving Progress / Checkpointing

When user says "save progress" or "checkpoint this":

Step 1: Assess Current State

# Check git status
git status

# Check current branch
git branch --show-current

# Check uncommitted work
git diff --stat

Step 2: Create Progress Checkpoint

Option A: Git-based checkpoint (if git repo)

# Create a work-in-progress commit
git add .
git commit -m "WIP: [description of current state]

Progress checkpoint - work in progress
Not ready for review or merge

Current state:
- [What's completed]
- [What's in progress]
- [What's next]

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>"

Option B: Task-based checkpoint (preferred for tracking)

Create checkpoint task with detailed state:

TaskCreate({
  subject: "Checkpoint: [Brief description]",
  description: `
📍 CHECKPOINT: ${new Date().toISOString()}

Completed:
✓ [Task 1]
✓ [Task 2]

In Progress:
⚙️ [Current task with details]

Next Steps:
- [ ] [Next task 1]
- [ ] [Next task 2]
- [ ] [Next task 3]

Context:
- Branch: ${branchName}
- Last commit: ${lastCommit}
- Files changed: ${filesChanged}
  `,
  activeForm: "Checkpoint saved"
})

Step 3: Update Existing Tasks

Mark completed tasks as done:

// For each completed task
TaskUpdate({
  taskId: "[task-id]",
  status: "completed"
})

Mark current task as in_progress:

TaskUpdate({
  taskId: "[current-task-id]",
  status: "in_progress"
})

Step 4: Provide Resume Instructions

✅ Progress saved!

To resume this work:
1. Run: git checkout [branch-name]
2. View tasks: TaskList
3. Say: "resume tasks" or "pick up where we left off"

Current state:
- Branch: [branch-name]
- Tasks: [X completed, Y in progress, Z pending]
- Last checkpoint: [timestamp]

3. Resuming Tasks

When user says "resume tasks" or "pick up where we left off":

Step 1: Load Task State

// Get all tasks
const tasks = TaskList()

// Filter by status
const completed = tasks.filter(t => t.status === 'completed')
const inProgress = tasks.filter(t => t.status === 'in_progress')
const pending = tasks.filter(t => t.status === 'pending')

// Find checkpoint task (if exists)
const checkpoint = tasks.find(t => t.subject.startsWith('Checkpoint:'))

Step 2: Check Git State

# Check for WIP commits
git log --oneline -10 | grep WIP

# Check current branch
git branch --show-current

# Check git status
git status

Step 3: Present Current State

📋 **Resuming from last checkpoint**

**Branch:** [branch-name]
**Last checkpoint:** [timestamp from WIP commit or checkpoint task]

**Completed:** (${completed.length} tasks)
${completed.map(t => `✓ ${t.subject}`).join('\n')}

**In Progress:** (${inProgress.length} tasks)
${inProgress.map(t => `⚙️ ${t.subject}`).join('\n')}

**Next Steps:** (${pending.length} tasks)
${pending.map((t, i) => `${i + 1}. [ ] ${t.subject}`).join('\n')}

**Would you like me to:**
1. Continue with the next task?
2. Modify the plan?
3. See more details about current state?

Step 4: Execute Based on Choice

• If "continue with next task" → Get first pending task, mark as in_progress, and begin work:

``javascript const nextTask = pending[0] TaskUpdate({ taskId: nextTask.id, status: 'in_progress' }) // Begin working on nextTask ``

• If "modify the plan" → Use AskUserQuestion to understand changes, then update tasks

• If "see more details" → Show git diff, file changes, recent commits, task descriptions

4. Proceeding to Next Steps

When user says "proceed to next steps":

Step 1: Check Current Task Status

const tasks = TaskList()
const currentTask = tasks.find(t => t.status === 'in_progress')

if (currentTask) {
  console.log(`Current task: ${currentTask.subject}`)
  console.log(`Status: ${currentTask.status}`)
}

Step 2: Complete Current and Move Forward

// Mark current task as complete
if (currentTask) {
  TaskUpdate({
    taskId: currentTask.id,
    status: 'completed'
  })
  console.log(`✓ ${currentTask.subject}`)
}

// Get next pending task
const nextTask = tasks.find(t => t.status === 'pending' && !t.blockedBy?.length)

if (nextTask) {
  // Mark as in progress
  TaskUpdate({
    taskId: nextTask.id,
    status: 'in_progress'
  })
  console.log(`\n⚙️ ${nextTask.subject}`)
  console.log(`\nProceeding with: ${nextTask.description}`)
}

Step 3: Execute Next Task

Begin working on the next task immediately after marking it as in_progress.

Migration from task plan tool (v7.22.x → v7.23.0+)

For Users with Existing .md Todo Files

If you have existing .claude/todos.md or similar files:

Option 1: Automatic Migration

# Run migration script
"${HOME}/.claude-octopus/plugin/scripts/migrate-todos.sh"

This will:

1. Parse existing .md todo files
2. Convert to TaskCreate calls
3. Preserve task order and status
4. Archive old .md files to .claude/archived-todos/

Option 2: Manual Migration

For each todo item in your .md file:

<!-- Old format in todos.md -->
- [ ] Implement user authentication
- [x] Set up database
- [ ] Create API endpoints

Convert to:

// New format using native tasks
TaskCreate({
  subject: "Implement user authentication",
  description: "Create auth system with JWT tokens",
  activeForm: "Implementing authentication"
})

TaskCreate({
  subject: "Set up database",
  description: "Configure PostgreSQL and run migrations",
  activeForm: "Setting up database"
})
// Mark as completed since it was [x]
TaskUpdate({ taskId: "...", status: "completed" })

TaskCreate({
  subject: "Create API endpoints",
  description: "Build REST API for