Task Creation Directions¶

How to create a task via the task-new workflow — minimal prompting, project + namespace inference, gates only on minting new projects/namespaces

When to use¶

user asks to create a new task

Slash command: /wb-task-new

Linked workflow: tasks/task-new

tasks/task_create

Directions¶

Route user task requests through the task-new workflow. The workflow's DAG enforces plan → enrich → confirm → create; agents don't manually sequence the suggester anymore. Project assignment is first-class: the plan step infers a project + subtree path alongside free-form namespace tags, and the confirm step gates only the minting of new projects or new subtrees, not the application of existing ones.

Structured tags¶

Native tasks store project and namespace tags as structured rows. A project tag uses projects/<slug>[/<subtree>...]; free-form namespaces use paths such as admin/uhn or paper/ecg-classifier. The registered project slug is validated, while an intentional subtree may be minted after confirmation. There is no #todo, Tasks-plugin, checkbox, or master-line syntax in the native contract.

MIT tasks require a summary¶

When creating a Most Important task, provide summary as handoff-quality initial content for its Co-work knowledge document: what needs to be done, why, and any relevant context. A focused task without knowledge is a continuity gap.

GTD vocabulary (optional)¶

task_create accepts 12 optional kwargs for GTD-shaped metadata: task_kind (task / periodic / habit), density (sparse / developed), outcome_text, next_action_text, definition_of_done, creation_effort, user_involvement, creation_provenance (open enum — use manual / agent_inferred_from_journal / agent_inferred_from_chrome / agent_inferred_from_inline), has_deadline, deadline_date, has_dependency, dependency_hint. Defaults match the legacy assumption (manual, sparse, developed effort, high involvement).

The task-new workflow's plan step doesn't currently emit these fields — they're available for agent-driven creators (Clarify populates them from captures) and for explicit caller use. Add them to the workflow's plan output if the user asks for a developed task with sub-action-items, or if context provides a clear deadline.

Retroactive tag edits¶

task_set_tags replaces the complete structured tag set. Pass every desired free-form namespace and projects/<slug>/... path. Unknown project slugs are rejected (use project_create first).

Directly programmatic callers that bypass the task-new workflow (e.g. the triage executor creating a task from a Review decision that already carries suggested_namespace_tags, or a session-handoff helper minting a task from prior context) MUST pass project= (and full subtree paths via tags) themselves. The workflow's enrichment is the right place for inference; programmatic call sites without that inference are responsible for landing tasks with correct project assignment.