Ticket System

Purpose

Tickets provide a lightweight, file-backed way to capture ideas for future work within the Ushabti repository. They complement the phase-driven workflow by allowing agents and users to record ideas that are out-of-scope for the current phase without losing them.

Tickets are deliberately simple: create, derive a phase from, archive. No editing, no complex state transitions, no prioritization logic.

Directory Structure

.ushabti/tickets/           # Active tickets
.ushabti/tickets/.archived/ # Completed tickets (invisible to agents)

Agents read tickets from .ushabti/tickets/ but ignore .ushabti/tickets/.archived/. Archived tickets are effectively invisible once moved.

Ticket YAML Schema

Each ticket is a YAML file with the following required fields:

id: T0001                    # Sequential ticket ID (TNNNN format)
title: Short description     # Brief, descriptive title
created: 2026-02-01          # ISO 8601 date (YYYY-MM-DD)
priority: medium             # Must be: low, medium, or high
context: |
  Multi-line context explaining why this ticket exists.
  What observation or need led to its creation?
proposed_work: |
  Multi-line description of what should be done.
  What would a phase derived from this ticket accomplish?

All fields are required. The priority field must be one of: low, medium, high.

Ticket Filename Format

Ticket files are named: TNNNN-short-description.yaml

• TNNNN: Zero-padded 4-digit sequential ID (T0001, T0002, etc.)
• short-description: Lowercase, hyphenated slug derived from title
• Extension: .yaml

Example: T0042-improve-error-messages.yaml

Workflows

Creating a Ticket

1. Determine next ticket ID (use find-next-ticket-number skill)
2. Create YAML file with all required fields
3. Validate schema (all fields present, priority is valid)
4. Write file to .ushabti/tickets/TNNNN-slug.yaml

Deriving a Phase from a Ticket

When a ticket is ready to become a phase:

1. Scribe reads the ticket YAML from .ushabti/tickets/
2. Scribe uses context and proposed_work to inform phase planning
3. Scribe adds ticket: TNNNN metadata to the phase.md file
4. The ticket remains in .ushabti/tickets/ until the phase completes

Archiving a Ticket

When a ticket-derived phase completes:

1. Overseer reads the ticket field from phase.md
2. Overseer moves the ticket file from .ushabti/tickets/ to .ushabti/tickets/.archived/
3. Overseer logs the archival action in review findings
4. The archived ticket is now invisible to agents

Agent Responsibilities

Vizier (Advisory)

• Can read active tickets from .ushabti/tickets/
• Ignores archived tickets in .ushabti/tickets/.archived/
• May offer to create tickets when good ideas for future work arise during conversation
• Should offer ticket creation sparingly, only for genuine future work

Scribe (Planning)

• Reads tickets when user requests a phase derived from a ticket
• Uses ticket context and proposed_work to inform phase intent and scope
• Adds ticket: TNNNN metadata to phase.md when deriving from a ticket

Overseer (Review)

• Checks phase.md for ticket field when completing a phase
• Archives the corresponding ticket by moving it to .ushabti/tickets/.archived/
• Logs archival action in review findings

Builder, Lawgiver, Artisan, Surveyor

• No specific ticket responsibilities
• May create tickets if they observe out-of-scope work during their duties

Design Principles

• Simple lifecycle: Create → derive phase → archive. No intermediate states.
• File-backed: Everything lives in the repository, no external dependencies.
• Agent-friendly: Clear schema, clear locations, clear workflows.
• Complementary: Tickets support phases, they don't replace planning or become a backlog management tool.
• Invisible when done: Archived tickets are moved out of the active directory and ignored by agents.