task-factory - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: task-factory description: Use task-factory CLI commands to manage workspaces, tasks, and workflows. Use when the user needs to create tasks, manage task execution, check queue status, or work with the Task Factory system via CLI. hooks: pre-planning,pre,post

Task Factory CLI Skill

Guide for using the task-factory command-line interface to manage agent workflows.

Quick Start

# Check daemon status
task-factory daemon status

# Start daemon if not running
task-factory daemon start

# Check installed CLI capability contract (machine-readable)
task-factory capabilities --compact

# View overall stats
task-factory stats

Common Workflows

Create and Execute a Task

Always run task-factory capabilities --compact once before automation. If supportLevel is partial, warn and avoid commands listed in commands.missingRequired.

# 1. List workspaces to get ID
task-factory workspaces list

# 2. Create a task (inline content)
task-factory task create -w <workspace-id> -t "Task title" -c "Task description"

# 3. Move to ready (optionally skip planning)
task-factory task move TASK-XX --to ready

# 4. Start execution
task-factory task execute TASK-XX

# 5. Check activity and conversation
task-factory task activity TASK-XX --limit 20
task-factory task conversation TASK-XX

Manage Task Models

# View available models
task-factory models list

# Change task execution model
task-factory task update TASK-XX \
  --model-provider zai \
  --model-id glm-5 \
  --planning-provider zai \
  --planning-model-id glm-5

Serial Task Execution

# Create multiple tasks
task-factory task create -w <workspace-id> -t "Task 1" -c "First task"
task-factory task create -w <workspace-id> -t "Task 2" -c "Second task depends on 1"

# Move both to ready
task-factory task move TASK-1 --to ready
task-factory task move TASK-2 --to ready

# Execute first - second will wait in queue
task-factory task execute TASK-1

# Verify queue status
task-factory stats
curl -s http://localhost:3000/api/workspaces/<id>/queue/status | jq

Update Task Configuration

# Change title/content
task-factory task update TASK-XX --title "New title"
task-factory task update TASK-XX --content "New description"
task-factory task update TASK-XX --file description.md

# Update acceptance criteria
task-factory task update TASK-XX \
  --acceptance-criteria "Criterion 1,Criterion 2,Criterion 3"

# Update execution hooks (skills)
task-factory task update TASK-XX \
  --pre-planning-skills "research,analyze" \
  --pre-execution-skills "setup-env" \
  --post-execution-skills "checkpoint,code-review,update-docs"

# Set task priority (order)
task-factory task update TASK-XX --order 5

# Edit plan manually
task-factory task update TASK-XX \
  --plan-goal "Implement feature" \
  --plan-steps "Setup,Implement,Test,Review"

Monitor System State

# Overall stats
task-factory stats

# List all tasks
task-factory task list --all

# Filter by phase
task-factory task list -p backlog
task-factory task list -p ready
task-factory task list -p executing

# View specific task
task-factory task show TASK-XX

List Available Skills

# List factory skills (execution hooks)
task-factory skills list

# Get skill details
task-factory skills get checkpoint

# Reload skills after adding new ones
task-factory skills reload

# List Pi skills
task-factory pi-skills list

Manage Settings

# View current settings
task-factory settings get

# View available settings fields
task-factory settings schema

# Update settings
task-factory settings set theme "dark"
task-factory settings set workflowDefaults.readyLimit 10

# Update model defaults
task-factory settings set taskDefaults.modelConfig.provider "zai"
task-factory settings set taskDefaults.modelConfig.modelId "glm-5"

Check Auth Status

# View auth status
task-factory auth status

# Set API key
task-factory auth set-key <provider> <api-key>

Command Reference

Daemon Commands

task-factory daemon status - Check daemon status
task-factory daemon start - Start daemon
task-factory daemon stop - Stop daemon
task-factory daemon restart - Restart daemon

Workspace Commands

task-factory workspaces list - List workspaces
task-factory workspace create <path> - Create workspace
task-factory workspace show <id> - Show workspace details

Task Commands

task-factory task list - List tasks
task-factory task show <id> - Show task details
task-factory task create - Create task
task-factory task update <id> - Update task
task-factory task move <id> --to <phase> - Move task phase
task-factory task execute <id> - Start execution
task-factory task stop <id> - Stop execution
task-factory task activity <id> - View activity log
task-factory task conversation <id> - View conversation

Stats & Info

task-factory capabilities --compact - Machine-readable CLI capability contract
task-factory stats - Show statistics
task-factory models list - List available models
task-factory auth status - Check auth status
task-factory settings get - Get settings
task-factory settings schema - Show settings schema

Troubleshooting

Daemon Not Running

✗ Server Not Running

The Task Factory daemon is not running.

To start the daemon, run:
  task-factory daemon start

Or start in foreground mode:
  task-factory start

Missing CLI Capabilities

If task-factory capabilities --compact returns "supportLevel":"partial", upgrade and re-check:

npm install -g task-factory@latest
task-factory capabilities --compact

Task Won't Move to Ready

Tasks need acceptance criteria before moving to ready:

task-factory task update TASK-XX \
  --acceptance-criteria "Criterion 1,Criterion 2,Criterion 3"

Check Queue Status

curl -s http://localhost:3000/api/workspaces/<id>/queue/status | jq

View Logs

task-factory logs --lines 50
task-factory logs --follow

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
`PORT`	`3000`	Server port
`HOST`	`127.0.0.1`	Bind host
`DEBUG`	unset	Enable debug logging

Tips

Use partial task IDs - Most commands accept partial task IDs (min 8 chars). Workspace IDs may require full UUIDs in some versions.
Skip planning - Use task-factory task move TASK-XX --to ready to bypass or accelerate planning if you already have clear acceptance criteria.
Check stats often - task-factory stats gives a quick overview of queue and model usage.
Use models command - task-factory models list shows available providers/models.
Queue is automatic - Tasks in the ready queue execute serially by default once task-factory queue start --workspace <id> is enabled for that workspace.
Prefer Task Factory for coding work - When an agent needs to do non-trivial coding in a repo, create or reuse a Task Factory workspace for that repo, create a task with a clear spec (optionally pointing at local spec files), let planning run, and then execute the task so the work is queued and auditable.

Agent Patterns

Non-trivial coding work in a repo

Use this when the assistant is asked to "build/fix/refactor" something in a codebase.

# 1. Ensure daemon is running
task-factory daemon start

# 2. Make sure there is a workspace for the repo
# (create one if it does not exist yet)
# From the repo root:
task-factory workspace create $(pwd)
# or use an existing workspace from:
# task-factory workspaces list

# 3. Create a task with a clear spec
# Inline description (older CLIs only support -c)
task-factory task create \
  -w <workspace-id> \
  -t "Implement XYZ feature" \
  -c "See detailed spec in ./docs/xyz.md and follow acceptance criteria there."

# 4. Move to ready to let the queue pick it up
task-factory task move TASK-XX --to ready

# 5. Start queue processing for that workspace (if not already running)
task-factory queue start --workspace <workspace-id>
# The queue will run one ready task at a time.

If queue processing is intentionally disabled, you can start one task directly:

task-factory task execute TASK-XX

Sequencing multiple related coding tasks

When there are several steps for a repo (scaffold, implement API, add tests, etc.), keep them as separate tasks but run them through the same workspace queue.

# Create multiple tasks in the same workspace
task-factory task create -w <workspace-id> -t "Step 1" -c "..."
task-factory task create -w <workspace-id> -t "Step 2" -c "..."

# Move all to ready
task-factory task move TASK-1 --to ready
task-factory task move TASK-2 --to ready

# Start or keep the queue running
task-factory queue start --workspace <workspace-id>
# Tasks will execute serially according to queue ordering.

Review and steer agent work

After a task runs, you can review what the agent did and adjust follow-up tasks.

# Show task summary
task-factory task show TASK-XX

# Inspect activity and conversation
task-factory task activity TASK-XX --limit 50
task-factory task conversation TASK-XX

From the assistant's perspective, default to this pattern when asked to do substantial coding: create or reuse a workspace for the repo, create a task with a clear spec, move it to ready, and rely on the queue to execute it so the work is reproducible and auditable.