taskctl

name: taskctl description: Use this skill to operate the taskctl CLI for task orchestration with dependency DAGs. Trigger this skill when users ask to create/update/list/delete tasks, set blocked_by or blocks dependencies, compute ready tasks, validate graph integrity, generate DAG JSON, or produce ASCII DAG views for planning and execution reviews.

Taskctl

Overview

Use taskctl from PATH.

Required toolchain for this skill:

• taskctl (required)
• gh (optional): Issue-driven state updates/comments
• bddc (optional): behavior verification before completed

Core constraints:

• status flow: pending -> in_progress -> completed
• deleted removes task permanently
• no self-dependency
• no missing dependency target
• no dependency cycle
• blocked tasks cannot move to in_progress or completed

Workflow

1. Choose a store file path.
2. Create tasks with complete fields.
3. Update owner, metadata, and dependencies.
4. Run ready to identify executable tasks.
5. Run dag or dag-ascii for graph review.
6. Run validate before accepting task plan changes.
7. If issue-driven, sync concise status to Issue via gh issue comment.

Command Patterns

# help
taskctl --help

# create task
taskctl --store <STORE_JSON> create \
  --subject "Run tests" \
  --description "Execute backend tests and collect logs" \
  --active-form "Running tests" \
  --metadata '{"priority":"P1","module":"quality"}'

# update task content, owner, dependencies, status
taskctl --store <STORE_JSON> update \
  --task-id <TASK_ID> \
  --owner qa@team \
  --metadata '{"priority":"P0","obsolete":null}' \
  --add-blocked-by <DEP_1>,<DEP_2> \
  --status in-progress

# inspect graph
taskctl --store <STORE_JSON> ready
taskctl --store <STORE_JSON> dag
taskctl --store <STORE_JSON> dag-ascii

# validate graph invariants
taskctl --store <STORE_JSON> validate

Field Semantics

• subject: imperative task title.
• description: context + acceptance criteria.
• active_form: progressive action text.
• owner: responsible human or agent.
• metadata: object payload; null value deletes key on update.
• add_blocked_by: dependency task IDs required before start.
• add_blocks: task IDs blocked by current task.

Acceptance Checklist

1. Ensure validate returns { "ok": true }.
2. Ensure dag reflects intended module sequencing.
3. Ensure ready includes only tasks with resolved dependencies.
4. Include both JSON DAG and ASCII DAG when a human review is requested.