Find Code Tasks

Overview

This skill finds and displays all code tasks (.code-task.md files) in the repository, showing their frontmatter status and metadata. Use it to get a quick overview of pending work, find tasks by status, or check the state of the task backlog.

When to Use

• Starting a work session to see what tasks are available
• Checking status of tasks before/after running code-assist
• Finding tasks by status (pending, in_progress, completed)
• Getting a summary of task backlog
• Exporting task data for reporting

Parameters

• filter (optional): Filter tasks by status

  • pending - Show only pending tasks
  • in_progress - Show only in-progress tasks
  • completed - Show only completed tasks
  • (none) - Show all tasks

• format (optional, default: "table"): Output format

  • table - Human-readable table with status symbols
  • json - JSON array for programmatic use
  • summary - Counts by status only

• tasks_dir (optional, default: ".ralph/tasks/"): Directory to search for tasks

Usage Examples

# Show all tasks in table format
/find-code-tasks

# Show only pending tasks
/find-code-tasks filter:pending

# Get JSON output for tooling
/find-code-tasks format:json

# Quick summary of task counts
/find-code-tasks format:summary

# Search custom directory
/find-code-tasks tasks_dir:tools/

Steps

1. Run Task Status Script

The script is colocated with this skill at .claude/skills/find-code-tasks/task-status.sh.

Execute it with appropriate arguments:

# Default: table format, all tasks
.claude/skills/find-code-tasks/task-status.sh

# With filter
.claude/skills/find-code-tasks/task-status.sh --pending
.claude/skills/find-code-tasks/task-status.sh --in_progress
.claude/skills/find-code-tasks/task-status.sh --completed

# With format
.claude/skills/find-code-tasks/task-status.sh --json
.claude/skills/find-code-tasks/task-status.sh --summary

# Custom tasks directory
TASKS_DIR=tools/ .claude/skills/find-code-tasks/task-status.sh

2. Present Results

Display the output to the user. For table format, the output includes:

3. Suggest Next Actions

Based on the results, suggest relevant actions:

• If there are pending tasks: "Run /code-assist .ralph/tasks/<task-name>.code-task.md to start a task"
• If there are in_progress tasks: "There are tasks already in progress - consider completing those first"
• If all tasks are completed: "All tasks are done! Use /code-task-generator to create new tasks"

Output Examples

Table Format (default)

TASKS STATUS
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
    TASK                                     STATUS       DATE
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
○ add-task-frontmatter-tracking            pending      2025-01-15
○ enhance-headless-tool-output             pending      -
● fix-ctrl-c-freeze                        in_progress  2025-01-14
✓ replay-backend                           completed    2025-01-13
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Total: 4 tasks

Summary Format

Task Summary
────────────
○ Pending:     10
● In Progress: 2
✓ Completed:   5
────────────
  Total:       17

JSON Format

[
  {"task": "add-task-frontmatter-tracking", "status": "pending", "created": "2025-01-15", "started": null, "completed": null},
  {"task": "fix-ctrl-c-freeze", "status": "in_progress", "created": "2025-01-14", "started": "2025-01-14", "completed": null}
]

Frontmatter Schema

Tasks with frontmatter tracking have this structure:

---
status: pending | in_progress | completed | blocked
created: YYYY-MM-DD    # Date task was created
started: YYYY-MM-DD    # Date work began (null if not started)
completed: YYYY-MM-DD  # Date work finished (null if not done)
---

Tasks without frontmatter are shown as pending with null dates.

Integration with Other Skills

• code-task-generator: Creates new tasks with frontmatter
• code-assist: Updates task status when starting/completing work
• ralph-code-assist: Runs tasks through Ralph orchestrator

Troubleshooting

No Tasks Found

If no tasks are displayed:

• Verify the tasks directory exists: ls .ralph/tasks/
• Check file extension is .code-task.md
• Try specifying directory: /find-code-tasks tasks_dir:./

Script Not Found

If the task-status.sh script is not found:

• Ensure you're in the repository root
• Check the script exists: ls .claude/skills/find-code-tasks/task-status.sh
• Make it executable: chmod +x .claude/skills/find-code-tasks/task-status.sh

Frontmatter Not Parsed

If dates show as - for tasks with frontmatter:

• Ensure frontmatter starts with --- on line 1
• Check YAML syntax is valid
• Verify field names match: status, created, started, completed