Agent skill

adding-todos

Use this skill to capture an idea, task, or issue that surfaces during a Kata session as a structured todo for later work. This skill creates markdown todo files in the .planning/todos/pending directory with relevant metadata and content extracted from the conversation. Triggers include "add todo", "capture todo", "new todo", and "create todo".

Stars 163
Forks 31

Install this agent skill to your Project

npx add-skill https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry/tree/main/skills/data/adding-todos

Metadata

Additional technical details for this skill

version
0.1.0

SKILL.md

<user_command>/kata:add-todo</user_command>

Enables "thought → capture → continue" flow without losing context or derailing current work.

Note existing areas for consistency in infer_area step.

Without arguments: Analyze recent conversation to extract:

  • The specific problem, idea, or task discussed
  • Relevant file paths mentioned
  • Technical details (error messages, line numbers, constraints)

Formulate:

  • title: 3-10 word descriptive title (action verb preferred)
  • problem: What's wrong or why this is needed
  • solution: Approach hints or "TBD" if just an idea
  • files: Relevant paths with line numbers from conversation
Path pattern Area
src/api/*, api/* api
src/components/*, src/ui/* ui
src/auth/*, auth/* auth
src/db/*, database/* database
tests/*, __tests__/* testing
docs/* docs
.planning/* planning
scripts/*, bin/* tooling
No files or unclear general

Use existing area from step 2 if similar match exists.

If potential duplicate found:

  1. Read the existing todo
  2. Compare scope

If overlapping, use AskUserQuestion:

  • header: "Duplicate?"
  • question: "Similar todo exists: [title]. What would you like to do?"
  • options:
    • "Skip" — keep existing todo
    • "Replace" — update existing with new context
    • "Add anyway" — create as separate todo

Generate slug from title (lowercase, hyphens, no special chars).

Write to .planning/todos/pending/${date_prefix}-${slug}.md:

markdown
---
created: [timestamp]
title: [title]
area: [area]
files:
  - [file:lines]
---

## Problem

[problem description - enough context for future Claude to understand weeks later]

## Solution

[approach hints or "TBD"]
  1. Count todos: ls .planning/todos/pending/*.md 2>/dev/null | wc -l
  2. Update "### Pending Todos" under "## Accumulated Context"

Check planning config:

bash
COMMIT_PLANNING_DOCS=$(cat .planning/config.json 2>/dev/null | grep -o '"commit_docs"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*[^,}]*' | grep -o 'true\|false' || echo "true")
git check-ignore -q .planning 2>/dev/null && COMMIT_PLANNING_DOCS=false

If COMMIT_PLANNING_DOCS=false: Skip git operations, log "Todo saved (not committed - commit_docs: false)"

If COMMIT_PLANNING_DOCS=true (default):

bash
git add .planning/todos/pending/[filename]
[ -f .planning/STATE.md ] && git add .planning/STATE.md
git commit -m "$(cat <<'EOF'
docs: capture todo - [title]

Area: [area]
EOF
)"

Confirm: "Committed: docs: capture todo - [title]"

[title] Area: [area] Files: [count] referenced


Would you like to:

  1. Continue with current work
  2. Add another todo
  3. View all todos (/kata:check-todoss)
</step>

</process>

<output>
- `.planning/todos/pending/[date]-[slug].md`
- Updated `.planning/STATE.md` (if exists)
</output>

<anti_patterns>
- Don't create todos for work in current plan (that's deviation rule territory)
- Don't create elaborate solution sections — captures ideas, not plans
- Don't block on missing information — "TBD" is fine
</anti_patterns>

<success_criteria>
- [ ] Directory structure exists
- [ ] Todo file created with valid frontmatter
- [ ] Problem section has enough context for future Claude
- [ ] No duplicates (checked and resolved)
- [ ] Area consistent with existing todos
- [ ] STATE.md updated if exists
- [ ] Todo and state committed to git
</success_criteria>

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