mk-task-queue

name: mk:task-queue description: Task claiming and ownership tracking for parallel agent execution. Agents claim tasks from a shared queue with file ownership enforcement. Use during parallel execution phases when multiple agents work simultaneously. source: local keywords: - task-queue - ownership-tracking - parallel-execution - claim-task - file-ownership when_to_use: Auto-invoked when multiple agents claim tasks during parallel execution. Not user-callable directly. user-invocable: false owner: git criticality: medium status: active runtime: claude-code

Task Queue & Ownership Tracker

Manages task assignment and file ownership during parallel execution.

Task Queue

Tasks are tracked in session-state/task-queue.json:

{
  "tasks": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "description": "Implement API endpoints",
      "owner": null,
      "status": "pending",
      "ownership": ["src/api/*", "src/routes/*"],
      "blocked_by": []
    },
    {
      "id": 2,
      "description": "Implement UI components",
      "owner": null,
      "status": "pending",
      "ownership": ["src/components/*", "src/pages/*"],
      "blocked_by": []
    }
  ]
}

Task Lifecycle

pending → claimed (agent assigned) → in_progress → completed
                                   → blocked (dependency not met)

Claiming Protocol

1. Agent requests next available task
2. Queue returns lowest-ID task where: status=pending AND blocked_by all completed
3. Agent declares ownership globs
4. Queue checks for overlap with other in_progress tasks
5. If overlap: REJECT claim, report conflict to orchestrator
6. If no overlap: ASSIGN task, set status=in_progress, record owner

Ownership Enforcement

Each task declares file ownership via glob patterns. Before any file write, check if the file matches the agent's declared ownership.

Integration

• Orchestrator creates the task queue when decomposing parallel work
• Parallel agents claim and complete tasks
• Orchestrator monitors queue for completion and triggers integration test
• Queue is ephemeral (session-state/) — recreated per parallel execution

Team Coordination

Team-mode coordination rules (file ownership, commit discipline, completion messages) live in .claude/skills/team-config/references/team-coordination.md, loaded by mk:team-config on team activation.

Gotchas

• Race condition on claims: Two agents reading task-queue.json simultaneously may both claim the same task. Mitigation: orchestrator is the sole claim-serializer — agents REQUEST claims through orchestrator, never self-claim directly
• Ownership globs must not overlap: src/api/* and src/api/auth/* overlap — the more specific glob must be in the SAME task, not split across agents
• Queue file doesn't auto-create: Orchestrator must create session-state/task-queue.json before dispatching parallel agents. If missing, agents should STOP and report, not create it themselves
• Completed tasks are not removed: Tasks stay in queue with status=completed for audit trail. Queue is cleaned up only when the parallel execution phase ends