/mempalace-task

name: mempalace-task
description: Create, hand off, claim, execute, and close agent tasks through the MemPalace logstream. Use when the user wants to delegate work, prepare a ready-to-paste task for another agent, receive a MemPalace task id, or explicitly launch a supported headless agent in controlled mode.

MemPalace Task

A quick-start workflow for active work moving between agents. Tasks belong in the logstream, not in memory drawers. The canonical lifecycle and watcher discipline live in the public [coordination protocol](https://github.com/MemPalace/mempalace/blob/main/integrations/shared/coordination-protocol.md).

Verify the coordination seam

1. Confirm `mempalace --version` succeeds. Also confirm `mempalace task --help` and `mempalace_task_create` exist; if either is missing, do not assume the older runtime has update-awareness commands. Explain that it is incompatible, hand off to the `mempalace` setup skill, and propose the package-manager-appropriate upgrade (`uv tool upgrade mempalace`, `pipx upgrade mempalace`, or the interpreter backing the active MemPalace command followed by `-m pip install --upgrade mempalace`) plus `npx skills update mempalace mempalace-recall mempalace-task`. Require explicit authorization before running anything. 2. Confirm the MemPalace MCP tools are connected and the active palace is the intended shared brain. 3. Establish the current agent's stable identity. Never impersonate another agent. 4. Check the destination agent's monitoring status when possible. A pasted handoff can wake a turn-based agent; a logstream event alone cannot.

If setup is incomplete, stop and use the `mempalace` setup skill.

Create a task

Gather these fields from the user or current repository state:

• project routing name;
• requesting and destination agent identities;
• exact goal;
• target branch;
• exact hexadecimal base commit id (never a branch or tag);
• definition of done.

Resolve the branch and hexadecimal base commit id from the intended worker checkout, not from an unrelated repository. Never pass a mutable branch or tag as the base commit. Before appending anything, show the user the **exact normalized task**: the identities, project, goal, branch, base commit, definition of done, and the fact that delivery must close through MemPalace. Logstream events are immutable, so obtain approval of that exact content unless the user already explicitly approved it in the current turn.

Create the task through the high-level interface rather than assembling a raw `task.request`. When MCP is connected—especially for a client joining a remote shared-brain hub—call `mempalace_task_create` with the approved fields. It returns the stored `task` and `handoff` and writes on the hub, not to an unintended local palace.

On the palace-owning machine, or when intentionally operating a local palace through the shell, the equivalent CLI is:

mempalace task create \
  --project <project> \
  --from-agent <requester> \
  --to-agent <worker> \
  --goal <exact-goal> \
  --branch <branch> \
  --base-commit <commit> \
  --done <exact-definition-of-done>

Use `--goal-file` or `--done-file` for multiline CLI content; never flatten or paraphrase the user's wording. The CLI prints a **Ready to paste** line; the MCP tool returns the same line as `handoff`. Return it unchanged so the user can wake the destination agent without copying the whole task body. Never use the local CLI fallback merely because the remote MCP call failed—surface and fix the connection instead.

Receive and execute a pasted task

When given `Open MemPalace task <id> as <agent>...`:

1. Fetch the exact `task.request` by `correlation_id=<id>` with `mempalace_event_list`; do not work from the short pasted line alone. 2. Verify it is addressed to this agent (or is a broadcast explicitly being accepted), and verify the workspace, branch, and base commit before edits. 3. Claim the request with `mempalace_event_ack(status=claimed)`. 4. Do the work and run the stated verification. 5. Deliver a patch with `mempalace_patch_submit`. If blocked or failed, send a verbatim `task.reply` instead. Silence is not a valid outcome. 6. The requester fetches and verifies the artifact, applies it with explicit user-visible intent, runs verification, then acknowledges `applied` or `failed`.

For a remote-only shared-brain client, inbox monitoring is MCP-backed: use `mempalace_event_wait` with the stable destination identity and carry the last event id forward as `since_event_id`. Use `mempalace_event_list` for the wake-up sweep. Do not run the local SQLite `mempalace logstream watch` command unless this machine owns the palace or a deliberately synchronized replica.

Controlled headless mode

Only when the user explicitly asks to launch an agent, first prepare a trusted, clean Git checkout on the task's exact branch and base commit. Then run:

mempalace task launch <task-id> --runner codex --workspace <path>
mempalace task launch <task-id> --runner claude --workspace <path>

Those commands resolve a task from a local palace. On a remote-only MCP client, fetch the single full `task.request` with `mempalace_event_list`, save that exact event object as JSON on the destination machine, and launch without consulting an unrelated local palace:

mempalace task launch --task-file <task-request.json> --runner codex --workspace <path>

The task file is a transport snapshot, not a replacement task: do not edit or reconstruct it. Headless launch always occurs on the destination machine that owns the trusted checkout; the requester cannot remotely spawn a process merely by appending to the hub.

This resolves the stored request, proves the workspace is a clean Git checkout on the stored branch with `HEAD` equal to the stored base commit, validates the addressed identity and its conventional `*-codex` or `*-claude` harness suffix, and starts the select