/speckit-tasks

name: speckit-tasks
description: Generate dependency-ordered tasks.md from design artifacts
usage: /speckit-tasks [feature-dir] [--no-tdd]
argument-hint: "Optional context for task generation"

Speckit Tasks

Before proceeding, load the `speckit-orchestrator` skill for workflow coordination. Consider loading complementary skills like `superpowers:executing-plans` and `superpowers:systematic-debugging` for enhanced task generation.

When To Use

Use this command when you need to:

• Converting spec/plan into concrete task list
• Creating dependency-ordered implementation roadmap

When NOT To Use

• Project doesn't follow spec-driven development
• Quick fixes that don't need formal specification

User Input

$ARGUMENTS

You **MUST** consider the user input before proceeding (if not empty).

Outline

1. **Setup**: Run `.specify/scripts/bash/check-prerequisites.sh --json` from repo root and parse FEATURE_DIR and AVAILABLE_DOCS list. All paths must be absolute. For single quotes in args like "I'm Groot", use escape syntax: e.g 'I'\''m Groot' (or double-quote if possible: "I'm Groot").

2. **Load design documents**: Read from FEATURE_DIR:

• **Required**: plan.md (tech stack, libraries, structure), spec.md (user stories with priorities)
• **Optional**: data-model.md (entities), contracts/ (API endpoints), research.md (decisions), quickstart.md (test scenarios)
• Note: Not all projects have all documents. Generate tasks based on what's available.

3. **Execute task generation workflow**:

• Load plan.md and extract tech stack, libraries, project structure
• Load spec.md and extract user stories with their priorities (P1, P2, P3, etc.)
• If data-model.md exists: Extract entities and map to user stories
• If contracts/ exists: Map endpoints to user stories
• If research.md exists: Extract decisions for setup tasks
• Generate tasks organized by user story (see Task Generation Rules below)
• Generate dependency graph showing user story completion order
• Create parallel execution examples per user story
• Validate task completeness (each user story has all needed tasks, independently testable)

4. **Generate tasks.md**: Use `.specify.specify/templates/tasks-template.md` as structure, fill with:

• Correct feature name from plan.md
• Phase 1: Setup tasks (project initialization)
• Phase 2: Foundational tasks (blocking prerequisites for all user stories)
• Phase 3+: One phase per user story (in priority order from spec.md)
• Each phase includes: story goal, independent test criteria, tests (default ON; skip only with `--no-tdd` or explicit spec opt-out), implementation tasks
• Final Phase: Polish & cross-cutting concerns
• All tasks must follow the strict checklist format (see Task Generation Rules below)
• Clear file paths for each task
• Dependencies section showing story completion order
• Parallel execution examples per story
• Implementation strategy section (MVP first, incremental delivery)

5. **Report**: Output path to generated tasks.md and summary:

• Total task count
• Task count per user story
• Parallel opportunities identified
• Independent test criteria for each story
• Suggested MVP scope (typically just User Story 1)
• Format validation: Confirm ALL tasks follow the checklist format (checkbox, ID, labels, file paths)

Context for task generation: $ARGUMENTS

The tasks.md should be immediately executable - each task must be specific enough that an LLM can complete it without additional context.

Task Generation Rules

**CRITICAL**: Tasks MUST be organized by user story to enable independent implementation and testing.

**Tests are DEFAULT ON** (since 1.9.3, per `docs/inclusive-defaults.md`): Generate test tasks for every user story by default. Skip test generation only if the user passes `--no-tdd` or the feature specification explicitly opts out (e.g. spike, throwaway prototype). The Iron Law (no implementation without a failing test first) is the project's TDD posture: defaulting to test generation makes that posture discoverable from the task list.

Checklist Format (REQUIRED)

Every task MUST strictly follow this format:

- [ ] [TaskID] [P?] [Story?] Description with file path

**Format Components**:

1. **Checkbox**: ALWAYS start with `- [ ]` (markdown checkbox) 2. **Task ID**: Sequential number (T001, T002, T003...) in execution order 3. **[P] marker**: Include ONLY if task is parallelizable (different files, no dependencies on incomplete tasks) 4. **[Story] label**: REQUIRED for user story phase tasks only

• Format: [US1], [US2], [US3], etc. (maps to user stories from spec.md)
• Setup phase: NO story label
• Foundational phase: NO story label
• User Story phases: MUST have story label
• Polish phase: NO story label

5. **[R:TIER] marker**: Optional risk classification (from `leyline:risk-classification`)

• Format: `[R:GREEN]`, `[R:YELLOW]`, `[R:RED]`, `[R:CRITICAL]`
• Applied after [Story] label (if present) and before description
• Tasks without this marker default to GREEN
• Classified by heuristic file-pattern matching on affected files

6. **Description**: Clear action with exact file path

**Examples**:

• CORRECT: `- [ ] T001 Create project structure per implementation plan`
• CORRECT: `- [ ] T005 [P] Implement authentication middleware in src/middleware/auth.py`
• CORRECT: `- [ ] T012 [P] [US1] Create User model in src/models/user.py`
• CORRECT: `- [ ] T012 [P] [US1] [R:YELLOW] Create User model in src/models/user.py`
• CORRECT: `- [ ] T014 [US1] Implement UserService in src/services/user_service.py`
• CORRECT: `- [ ] T015 [US2] [R:RED] Add user migration in migrations/002_add_users.py`
• WRONG: `- [ ] Create User model` (missing ID and Story label)
• WRONG: `T001 [US1] Create model` (missing checkbox)
• WRONG: `- [ ] [US1] Create User model` (missing Task ID)
• WRONG: `- [ ] T001 [US1] Create model` (missing file