skill-fix-it
Scan codebase for FIX:/NOTE:/TODO:/QUESTION: tags and create structured tasks with interactive selection. Invoke for /fix-it command.
Best use case
skill-fix-it is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.
Scan codebase for FIX:/NOTE:/TODO:/QUESTION: tags and create structured tasks with interactive selection. Invoke for /fix-it command.
Teams using skill-fix-it should expect a more consistent output, faster repeated execution, less prompt rewriting.
When to use this skill
- You want a reusable workflow that can be run more than once with consistent structure.
When not to use this skill
- You only need a quick one-off answer and do not need a reusable workflow.
- You cannot install or maintain the underlying files, dependencies, or repository context.
Installation
Claude Code / Cursor / Codex
Manual Installation
- Download SKILL.md from GitHub
- Place it in
.claude/skills/skill-fix-it/SKILL.mdinside your project - Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill
How skill-fix-it Compares
| Feature / Agent | skill-fix-it | Standard Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Support | Not specified | Limited / Varies |
| Context Awareness | High | Baseline |
| Installation Complexity | Unknown | N/A |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this skill do?
Scan codebase for FIX:/NOTE:/TODO:/QUESTION: tags and create structured tasks with interactive selection. Invoke for /fix-it command.
Where can I find the source code?
You can find the source code on GitHub using the link provided at the top of the page.
SKILL.md Source
# Fix-It Skill (Direct Execution)
Direct execution skill for scanning files, presenting findings interactively, and creating user-selected tasks. Replaces the previous delegation-based approach with synchronous execution and AskUserQuestion prompts.
**Key behavior**: Users always see tag scan results BEFORE any tasks are created. Users select which task types to create via interactive prompts.
## Context References
Reference (do not load eagerly):
- Path: `@specs/TODO.md` - Current task list
- Path: `@specs/state.json` - Machine state
---
## Execution
### Step 1: Parse Arguments
Extract paths from command input:
```bash
# Parse from command input
paths="$ARGUMENTS"
# Default to project root if no paths specified
if [ -z "$paths" ]; then
paths="."
fi
```
**Note**: The `--dry-run` flag is no longer supported. The interactive flow is inherently "preview first" - users always see findings before any tasks are created.
### Step 2: Generate Session ID
Generate session ID for tracking:
```bash
session_id="sess_$(date +%s)_$(od -An -N3 -tx1 /dev/urandom | tr -d ' ')"
```
### Step 3: Execute Tag Extraction
Scan for all four tag types (FIX:, NOTE:, TODO:, QUESTION:) using file-type-specific comment patterns:
| File Type | Comment Prefix | Includes |
|-----------|---------------|----------|
| Lua | `--` | `*.lua` |
| LaTeX | `%` | `*.tex` |
| Markdown | `<!--` | `*.md` |
| Script | `#` | `*.py`, `*.sh`, `*.yaml`, `*.yml` |
For each tag type, grep across all file types with `-rn` and collect matches. Parse each match into: file path, line number, tag type, tag content.
Categorize into arrays: `fix_tags[]`, `note_tags[]`, `todo_tags[]`, `question_tags[]`.
### Step 4: Display Tag Summary
Present findings to user BEFORE any selection:
```
## Tag Scan Results
**Files Scanned**: {paths}
**Tags Found**: {total_count}
### FIX: Tags ({count})
- `{file}:{line}` - {content}
- ...
### NOTE: Tags ({count})
- `{file}:{line}` - {content}
- ...
### TODO: Tags ({count})
- `{file}:{line}` - {content}
- ...
### QUESTION: Tags ({count})
- `{file}:{line}` - {content}
- ...
```
### Step 5: Handle Edge Cases
#### No Tags Found
If no tags found:
```
## No Tags Found
Scanned files in: {paths}
No FIX:, NOTE:, TODO:, or QUESTION: tags detected.
Nothing to create.
```
Exit gracefully without prompts.
#### Only Certain Tag Types
Only show task type options for tag types that exist:
- FIX: tags exist -> offer "fix-it task"
- NOTE: tags exist -> offer "fix-it task" AND "learn-it task"
- TODO: tags exist -> offer "TODO tasks"
- QUESTION: tags exist -> offer "Research tasks"
### Step 6: Task Type Selection
If tags were found, prompt user to select task types:
```json
{
"question": "Which task types should be created?",
"header": "Task Types",
"multiSelect": true,
"options": [
{
"label": "fix-it task",
"description": "Combine {N} FIX:/NOTE: tags into single task"
},
{
"label": "learn-it task",
"description": "Update context from {N} NOTE: tags"
},
{
"label": "TODO tasks",
"description": "Create tasks for {N} TODO: items"
},
{
"label": "Research tasks",
"description": "Create research tasks for {N} QUESTION: items"
}
]
}
```
**Important**: Only include options where the tag type exists:
- Include "fix-it task" only if FIX: or NOTE: tags exist
- Include "learn-it task" only if NOTE: tags exist
- Include "TODO tasks" only if TODO: tags exist
- Include "Research tasks" only if QUESTION: tags exist
If user selects nothing, exit gracefully:
```
No task types selected. No tasks created.
```
### Step 7: Individual TODO Selection
If "TODO tasks" was selected AND there are TODO: tags:
#### Standard Case (<=20 TODOs)
```json
{
"question": "Select TODO items to create as tasks:",
"header": "TODO Selection",
"multiSelect": true,
"options": [
{
"label": "{content truncated to 50 chars}",
"description": "{file}:{line}"
},
...
]
}
```
#### Large Number of TODOs (>20)
Add a "Select all" option at the top:
```json
{
"question": "Select TODO items to create as tasks:",
"header": "TODO Selection (many items)",
"multiSelect": true,
"options": [
{
"label": "Select all ({N} items)",
"description": "Create a task for every TODO tag"
},
{
"label": "{content truncated to 50 chars}",
"description": "{file}:{line}"
},
...
]
}
```
If "Select all" is chosen, include all TODOs. Otherwise, only selected items.
### Step 7.5: Topic Grouping (Shared Algorithm)
This grouping algorithm applies to both TODO items (Step 7.5) and QUESTION items (Step 7.7). Skip if only 1 item selected.
**Topic Indicator Extraction** per item:
- **Key Terms**: Significant words (nouns, verbs), ignoring stop words
- **File Section**: Group by file path prefix
- **Action Type**: Inferred from content (Add/Create -> implementation, Fix -> fix, Document -> docs, Test -> testing, Refactor -> improvement). For QUESTION items, action_type is always "research".
**Clustering Algorithm**:
1. Start with first item as initial group
2. For each remaining item: add to existing group if shares 2+ key terms OR shares file_section + action_type; otherwise start new group
3. Generate topic label from most common shared terms
4. Single-item groups are kept as-is
**Store result**: `topic_groups[]` with `{label, items[], shared_terms[], action_type}`
### Step 7.5.4: Topic Group Confirmation
**Condition**: At least one group has 2+ items (otherwise skip -- no grouping benefit).
Present via AskUserQuestion (multiSelect: false):
- "Accept suggested topic groups" -- Creates {N} grouped tasks
- "Keep as separate tasks" -- Creates {M} individual tasks
- "Create single combined task" -- Creates 1 task with all items
**Store**: `grouping_mode = "grouped" | "separate" | "combined"`
### Step 7.6: Individual QUESTION Selection
**Condition**: User selected "Research tasks" in Step 6 AND QUESTION: tags exist.
Same pattern as Step 7 (TODO selection): AskUserQuestion with multiSelect, "Select all" option when >20 items.
### Step 7.7: Topic Grouping for QUESTION Items
**Condition**: Selected more than 1 QUESTION item.
Apply the **same algorithm as Step 7.5** with these differences:
- action_type is always "research"
- Store result in `question_topic_groups[]`
- Confirmation prompt uses "research tasks" wording
**Store**: `question_grouping_mode = "grouped" | "separate" | "combined"`
### Step 8: Create Selected Tasks
For each selected task type, create the task. **Important**: When NOTE: tags exist and both fix-it and learn-it tasks are selected, create learn-it FIRST so fix-it can depend on it.
#### 8.1: Get Next Task Number
```bash
next_num=$(jq -r '.next_project_number' specs/state.json)
```
#### 8.2: Dependency-Aware Task Creation Order
**Check for NOTE: dependency condition**:
```
has_note_dependency = (NOTE: tags exist) AND (user selected both "fix-it task" AND "learn-it task")
```
**If has_note_dependency is TRUE**:
- Create learn-it task FIRST (Step 8.2a)
- Store learn-it task number as `learn_it_task_num`
- Create fix-it task SECOND with dependency (Step 8.2b)
**If has_note_dependency is FALSE**:
- Create fix-it task first (if selected)
- Create learn-it task second (if selected)
- No dependency relationship
#### 8.2a: Learn-It Task (when created first for dependency)
**Condition**: has_note_dependency is TRUE
```json
{
"title": "Update context files from NOTE: tags",
"description": "Update {N} context files based on learnings:\n\n{grouped by target context}",
"language": "meta",
"effort": "1-2 hours"
}
```
Store the task number: `learn_it_task_num = next_num`
Increment: `next_num = next_num + 1`
#### 8.2b: Fix-It Task (with dependency when has_note_dependency)
**Condition**: User selected "fix-it task" AND (FIX: or NOTE: tags exist)
**When has_note_dependency is TRUE**:
```json
{
"title": "Fix issues from FIX:/NOTE: tags",
"description": "Address {N} items from embedded tags:\n\n{list of items with file:line references}\n\n**Important**: When making changes, remove the FIX: and NOTE: tags from the source files. Leave TODO: tags untouched (they create separate tasks).",
"language": "{predominant language from source files}",
"effort": "2-4 hours",
"dependencies": [learn_it_task_num]
}
```
**When has_note_dependency is FALSE**:
```json
{
"title": "Fix issues from FIX:/NOTE: tags",
"description": "Address {N} items from embedded tags:\n\n{list of items with file:line references}\n\n**Important**: When making changes, remove the FIX: and NOTE: tags from the source files. Leave TODO: tags untouched (they create separate tasks).",
"language": "{predominant language from source files}",
"effort": "2-4 hours"
}
```
**Language Detection**:
```
if majority of tags from .lean files -> "lean"
elif majority from .tex files -> "latex"
elif majority from .claude/ files -> "meta"
else -> "general"
```
#### 8.3: Learn-It Task (when created without dependency)
**Condition**: User selected "learn-it task" AND NOTE: tags exist AND has_note_dependency is FALSE
```json
{
"title": "Update context files from NOTE: tags",
"description": "Update {N} context files based on learnings:\n\n{grouped by target context}",
"language": "meta",
"effort": "1-2 hours"
}
```
#### 8.4: Todo-Tasks (if selected)
**Condition**: User selected "TODO tasks" AND user selected specific TODO items
**Check grouping_mode** (from Step 7.5.4, defaults to "separate" if Step 7.5.4 was skipped):
##### 8.4.1: Grouped Mode (grouping_mode == "grouped")
For each topic group in `topic_groups`:
```json
{
"title": "{topic_label}: {item_count} TODO items",
"description": "Address TODO items related to {topic_label}:\n\n{item_list}\n\n---\n\nShared context: {shared_terms_description}",
"language": "{detected from majority file type in group}",
"effort": "{scaled_effort}"
}
```
Where:
- `{topic_label}` = generated label (e.g., "Telescope Worktrees")
- `{item_count}` = number of items in group
- `{item_list}` = formatted list of items:
```
- [ ] {content} (`{file}:{line}`)
- [ ] {content} (`{file}:{line}`)
```
- `{shared_terms_description}` = brief description of why items are grouped (e.g., "Related to telescope worktree functionality")
**Effort Scaling Formula**:
```
base_effort = 1 hour
scaled_effort = base_effort + (30 min * (item_count - 1))
Examples:
1 item → 1 hour
2 items → 1.5 hours (1h + 30min)
3 items → 2 hours (1h + 60min)
4 items → 2.5 hours (1h + 90min)
```
##### 8.4.2: Combined Mode (grouping_mode == "combined")
Create single task containing all selected TODO items:
```json
{
"title": "Address {item_count} TODO items",
"description": "Combined TODO items from scan:\n\n{all_items_list}\n\n---\n\nFiles: {unique_files_list}",
"language": "{detected from majority file type}",
"effort": "{scaled_effort}"
}
```
Where:
- `{item_count}` = total number of selected TODO items
- `{all_items_list}` = formatted list of all items with checkboxes
- `{unique_files_list}` = comma-separated list of unique files involved
**Effort Scaling**: Same formula as grouped mode.
##### 8.4.3: Separate Mode (grouping_mode == "separate" or default)
For each selected TODO item individually:
```json
{
"title": "{tag content, truncated to 60 chars}",
"description": "{full tag content}\n\nSource: {file}:{line}",
"language": "{detected from file type}",
"effort": "1 hour"
}
```
**Language Detection for Todo-Task** (all modes):
```
.lua (nvim/) -> "neovim"
.tex -> "latex"
.md -> "markdown"
.py/.sh -> "general"
.claude/* -> "meta"
```
#### 8.5: Research-Tasks (if selected)
**Condition**: User selected "Research tasks" AND user selected specific QUESTION items.
Uses `question_grouping_mode` from Step 7.7 (defaults to "separate"). Same grouped/combined/separate modes as TODO tasks (Step 8.4), with these differences:
- **Language detection is content-based** (not file-based): Match question text against keyword lists:
- neovim: nvim, neovim, plugin, lazy, telescope, treesitter, lsp, buffer, window, keymap, autocmd, lua
- latex: theorem, proof, lemma, axiom, logic, formula, derivation, proposition, corollary, latex, tex
- meta: .claude, command, agent, skill, workflow, state.json, TODO.md, specs/
- Default: "general"
- **Effort base**: 1.5 hours (vs 1 hour for TODO tasks), same +30min scaling per additional item
- **Title prefix**: "Research: {content}" for separate mode
- **Description format**: Uses blockquote syntax (`> {question text}`) instead of checkboxes
### Step 9: Update State Files
For each task created:
#### 9.1: Update state.json
Read current state, add new task entry, increment next_project_number:
```bash
# Create slug from title
slug=$(echo "$title" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | tr ' ' '_' | tr -cd 'a-z0-9_' | cut -c1-50)
# Read current state
current=$(cat specs/state.json)
# Add task using jq (use two-step pattern to avoid escaping issues)
# Step 1: Write task data to temp file
# Step 2: Use jq with slurpfile
```
**For fix-it task when has_note_dependency is TRUE**, include dependencies array:
```json
{
"project_number": {N},
"project_name": "{slug}",
"status": "not_started",
"language": "{language}",
"dependencies": [learn_it_task_num]
}
```
**For all other tasks**, no dependencies field needed.
#### 9.2: Update TODO.md
Prepend new task entry to `## Tasks` section (new tasks at top):
**Standard format (no dependency)**:
```markdown
### {N}. {Title}
- **Effort**: {estimate}
- **Status**: [NOT STARTED]
- **Language**: {language}
- **Started**: {timestamp}
**Description**: {description}
---
```
**Fix-it task format when has_note_dependency is TRUE**:
```markdown
### {N}. {Title}
- **Effort**: {estimate}
- **Status**: [NOT STARTED]
- **Language**: {language}
- **Dependencies**: {learn_it_task_num}
- **Started**: {timestamp}
**Description**: {description}
---
```
### Step 10: Display Results
Show summary of created tasks:
```
## Tasks Created from Tags
**Tags Processed**: {N} across scanned files
### Created Tasks
| # | Type | Title | Language |
|---|------|-------|----------|
| {N} | fix-it | Fix issues from FIX:/NOTE: tags | {lang} |
| {N+1} | learn-it | Update context files from NOTE: tags | meta |
| {N+2} | todo | {title} | {lang} |
| {N+3} | research | Research: {question title} | {lang} |
---
**Next Steps**:
1. Review tasks in TODO.md
2. Run `/research {first_task}` to begin
3. Progress through /research -> /plan -> /implement cycle
```
### Step 11: Git Commit (Postflight)
If tasks were created, commit changes:
```bash
task_count={number of tasks created}
git add specs/TODO.md specs/state.json
git commit -m "fix-it: create $task_count tasks from tags
Session: $session_id
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>"
```
---
## Error Handling
See `rules/error-handling.md` for general patterns. Skill-specific behaviors:
- **Path access errors**: Log warning per invalid path, continue with valid ones; exit if none remain
- **No tags found**: Not an error -- report informatively and exit without prompts
- **state.json/TODO.md failures**: Try two-step jq pattern; report partial success if still failing
- **Git commit failure**: Non-blocking (tasks still created)
## Standards Reference
Implements the multi-task creation pattern (full compliance). See `.claude/docs/reference/standards/multi-task-creation-standard.md`.Related Skills
skill-learn
Scan codebase for FIX:/NOTE:/TODO:/QUESTION: tags and create structured tasks with interactive selection. Invoke for /learn command.
skill-deck
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skill-todo
Archive completed and abandoned tasks with CHANGE_LOG.md updates and memory harvest suggestions
skill-team-research
Orchestrate multi-agent research with wave-based parallel execution. Spawns 2-4 teammates for diverse investigation angles and synthesizes findings.
skill-team-plan
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skill-team-implement
Orchestrate multi-agent implementation with parallel phase execution. Spawns teammates for independent phases and coordinates dependent phases. Includes debugger teammate for error recovery.
skill-status-sync
Atomically update task status across TODO.md and state.json. For standalone use only.
skill-spawn
Research blockers and spawn new tasks to overcome them, updating parent task dependencies
skill-researcher
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skill-refresh
Manage Claude Code resources - terminate orphaned processes and clean up ~/.claude/ directory
skill-planner
Create phased implementation plans from research findings. Invoke when a task needs an implementation plan.
skill-orchestrator
Route commands to appropriate workflows based on task language and status. Invoke when executing /task, /research, /plan, /implement commands.