nav-task
Manage Navigator task documentation - create implementation plans, archive completed tasks, update task index. Use when user starts new feature, completes work, or says "document this feature".
Best use case
nav-task is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.
Manage Navigator task documentation - create implementation plans, archive completed tasks, update task index. Use when user starts new feature, completes work, or says "document this feature".
Teams using nav-task 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/nav-task/SKILL.mdinside your project - Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill
How nav-task Compares
| Feature / Agent | nav-task | 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?
Manage Navigator task documentation - create implementation plans, archive completed tasks, update task index. Use when user starts new feature, completes work, or says "document this feature".
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
# Navigator Task Manager Skill
Create and manage task documentation - implementation plans that capture what was built, how, and why.
## When to Invoke
Invoke this skill when the user:
- Says "document this feature", "archive this task"
- Says "create task doc for...", "document what I built"
- Completes a feature and mentions "done", "finished", "complete"
- Starts new feature and says "create implementation plan"
**DO NOT invoke** if:
- User is asking about existing tasks (use Read, not creation)
- Creating SOPs (that's nav-sop skill)
- Updating system docs (different skill)
## Execution Steps
### Step 1: Determine Task ID
**If user provided task ID** (e.g., "TASK-01", "GH-123"):
- Use their ID directly
**If no ID provided**:
- Read `.agent/.nav-config.json` for `task_prefix`
- Check existing tasks: `ls .agent/tasks/*.md`
- Generate next number: `{prefix}-{next-number}`
- Example: Last task is TASK-05, create TASK-06
### Step 2: Determine Action (Create vs Archive)
**Creating new task** (starting feature):
```
User: "Create task doc for OAuth implementation"
→ Action: CREATE
→ Generate empty implementation plan template
```
**Archiving completed task** (feature done):
```
User: "Document this OAuth feature I just built"
→ Action: ARCHIVE
→ Generate implementation plan from conversation
```
### Step 3A: Create New Task (If Starting Feature)
Generate task document from template:
```markdown
# TASK-{XX}: {Feature Name}
**Status**: 🚧 In Progress
**Created**: {YYYY-MM-DD}
**Assignee**: {from PM tool or "Manual"}
---
## Context
**Problem**:
[What problem does this solve?]
**Goal**:
[What are we building?]
**Success Criteria**:
- [ ] [Specific measurable outcome]
- [ ] [Another outcome]
---
## Implementation Plan
### Phase 1: {Name}
**Goal**: [What this phase accomplishes]
**Tasks**:
- [ ] [Specific task]
- [ ] [Another task]
**Files**:
- `path/to/file.ts` - [Purpose]
### Phase 2: {Name}
...
---
## Technical Decisions
| Decision | Options Considered | Chosen | Reasoning |
|----------|-------------------|--------|-----------|
| [What] | [Option A, B, C] | [Chosen] | [Why] |
---
## Dependencies
**Requires**:
- [ ] {prerequisite task or setup}
**Blocks**:
- [ ] {tasks waiting on this}
---
## Verify
Run these commands to validate the implementation:
```bash
# Run tests
[test command for this feature]
# Type check
[type check command]
# Build
[build command]
```
---
## Done
Observable outcomes that prove completion:
- [ ] [Specific file/API exists and exports expected interface]
- [ ] [Tests pass - specify count or coverage target]
- [ ] [Build succeeds without errors]
- [ ] [User-observable behavior works as specified]
---
## Notes
[Any additional context, links, references]
---
## Completion Checklist
Before marking complete:
- [ ] Implementation finished
- [ ] Tests written and passing
- [ ] Documentation updated
- [ ] Code reviewed (if team)
- [ ] Deployed/merged
---
**Last Updated**: {YYYY-MM-DD}
```
Save to: `.agent/tasks/TASK-{XX}-{slug}.md`
### Step 3B: Archive Completed Task (If Feature Done)
Generate task document from conversation:
1. **Analyze conversation** (last 30-50 messages):
- What was built?
- How was it implemented?
- What decisions were made?
- What files were modified?
2. **Generate implementation plan**:
```markdown
# TASK-{XX}: {Feature Name}
**Status**: ✅ Completed
**Created**: {YYYY-MM-DD}
**Completed**: {YYYY-MM-DD}
---
## What Was Built
[1-2 paragraph summary of the feature]
---
## Implementation
### Phase 1: {Actual phase completed}
**Completed**: {Date}
**Changes**:
- Created `src/auth/oauth.ts` - OAuth provider integration
- Modified `src/routes/auth.ts` - Added login/logout endpoints
- Updated `src/config/passport.ts` - Passport configuration
**Key Code**:
```typescript
// Example of key implementation
export const oauthLogin = async (req, res) => {
// Implementation details
};
```
### Phase 2: {Next phase}
...
---
## Technical Decisions
| Decision | Options | Chosen | Reasoning |
|----------|---------|--------|-----------|
| Auth library | next-auth, passport.js, auth0 | passport.js | Better control over OAuth flow, smaller bundle |
| Token storage | localStorage, cookies, sessionStorage | httpOnly cookies | XSS protection, automatic transmission |
| Session store | memory, Redis, PostgreSQL | Redis | Fast, scalable, separate from DB |
---
## Files Modified
- `src/auth/oauth.ts` (created) - OAuth integration
- `src/routes/auth.ts` (modified) - Added auth endpoints
- `src/config/passport.ts` (created) - Passport setup
- `tests/auth.test.ts` (created) - Auth tests
- `README.md` (updated) - OAuth setup instructions
---
## Challenges & Solutions
**Challenge**: OAuth callback URL mismatch
- **Problem**: Redirects failed in production
- **Solution**: Added environment-specific callback URLs
- **Commit**: abc1234
**Challenge**: Session persistence across restarts
- **Problem**: Users logged out on server restart
- **Solution**: Redis session store
- **Commit**: def5678
---
## Testing
- ✅ Unit tests: `src/auth/*.test.ts` (15 tests, 100% coverage)
- ✅ Integration tests: OAuth flow end-to-end
- ✅ Manual testing: Tested with Google, GitHub providers
---
## Documentation
- ✅ README updated with OAuth setup instructions
- ✅ Environment variables documented in `.env.example`
- ✅ API endpoints documented in `docs/api.md`
---
## Verify
Commands executed to validate:
```bash
# Actual commands run during verification
npm test src/auth
npm run type-check
npm run build
```
**Results**: All passed ✅
---
## Done
Outcomes confirmed:
- [x] `src/auth/oauth.ts` exports OAuth provider integration
- [x] All tests pass (15 tests, 100% coverage)
- [x] Build succeeds without errors
- [x] OAuth login/logout flows work correctly
---
## Related
**SOPs Created**:
- `.agent/sops/integrations/oauth-setup.md`
**System Docs Updated**:
- `.agent/system/project-architecture.md` (added auth section)
---
**Completed**: {YYYY-MM-DD}
**Implementation Time**: {X hours/days}
```
Save to: `.agent/tasks/TASK-{XX}-{slug}.md`
### Step 3.5: Verify Interpretation (ToM Checkpoint - Archive Mode Only) [EXECUTE]
**IMPORTANT**: This step MUST be executed when archiving tasks (not creating new ones).
**Before committing archive documentation, confirm interpretation with user**.
**Display verification** (only for ARCHIVE action):
```
I extracted this from our session:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
What was built:
- {FEATURE_SUMMARY}
Key decisions captured:
- {DECISION_1}: {REASONING_1}
- {DECISION_2}: {REASONING_2}
Files changed: {COUNT} total
- {FILE_1} ({ACTION}: {PURPOSE})
- {FILE_2} ({ACTION}: {PURPOSE})
Challenges solved:
- {CHALLENGE_1}: {SOLUTION_1}
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Corrections needed? [Enter to proceed / type corrections]
```
**Always verify for ARCHIVE** because:
- Extracting from conversation is inference-based
- User may have made decisions not explicitly stated
- Some files may have been modified outside conversation
- Ensures accurate historical record
**Skip verification for CREATE** because:
- Template is mostly empty
- User fills in details themselves
- No inference risk
### Step 4: Update Navigator Index
Edit `.agent/DEVELOPMENT-README.md` to add task to index:
```markdown
## Active Tasks
- **TASK-{XX}**: {Feature Name} (Status: In Progress/Completed)
- File: `.agent/tasks/TASK-{XX}-{slug}.md`
- Started: {Date}
- [Completed: {Date}]
```
Keep index organized (active tasks first, completed below).
### Step 4.5: Sync to Knowledge Graph (v6.0.0+)
**If knowledge graph exists**, sync task to graph:
```bash
if [ -f ".agent/knowledge/graph.json" ]; then
python3 skills/nav-graph/functions/task_to_graph.py \
--action add \
--task-path ".agent/tasks/TASK-{XX}-{slug}.md" \
--graph-path .agent/knowledge/graph.json
fi
```
**What this does**:
- Extracts concepts from task content (auth, api, testing, etc.)
- Adds task node to graph with status and concepts
- Creates `implements` edges from task to concepts
- For **completed tasks**: Extracts Technical Decisions as `decision` memories
**Output**:
```
Added task: TASK-XX
Title: {Feature Name}
Status: completed
Concepts: auth, api, testing
Decisions extracted: 2
```
This makes the task queryable via "What do we know about auth?" and preserves architectural decisions as persistent memories.
### Step 5: Update PM Tool (If Configured)
**If PM tool is Linear**:
```typescript
create_comment({
issueId: "TASK-XX",
body: "📚 Implementation plan documented: .agent/tasks/TASK-XX-feature.md"
})
```
**If PM tool is GitHub**:
```bash
gh issue comment {ISSUE-NUMBER} -b "📚 Implementation plan: .agent/tasks/TASK-XX-feature.md"
```
**If PM tool is none**:
Skip PM update.
### Step 6: Confirm Success
Show completion message:
```
✅ Task documentation created!
Task: TASK-{XX} - {Feature Name}
File: .agent/tasks/TASK-{XX}-{slug}.md
Size: {X} KB (~{Y} tokens)
📋 Contains:
- Implementation phases
- Technical decisions
- Files modified
- [If archived: Challenges & solutions]
- [If archived: Testing & documentation]
🔗 Navigator index updated
[If PM tool: PM tool comment added]
To reference later:
Read .agent/tasks/TASK-{XX}-{slug}.md
```
## Task Document Template Structure
### For New Tasks (Planning)
1. Context (problem/goal)
2. Implementation plan (phases)
3. Technical decisions (to be made)
4. Dependencies
5. Completion checklist
### For Completed Tasks (Archive)
1. What was built (summary)
2. Implementation (actual phases)
3. Technical decisions (what was chosen)
4. Files modified
5. Challenges & solutions
6. Testing & documentation
## Common Use Cases
### Starting New Feature
```
User: "Create task doc for payments integration"
→ Generates TASK-07-payments.md
→ Empty template for planning
→ User fills in as they work
```
### Completing Feature
```
User: "Document the auth feature I just finished"
→ Analyzes conversation
→ Generates TASK-06-auth.md
→ Complete implementation record
→ Archives for future reference
```
### Mid-Feature Update
```
User: "Update TASK-05 with OAuth decision"
→ Reads existing TASK-05-auth.md
→ Adds to Technical Decisions section
→ Preserves rest of document
```
## Error Handling
**Navigator not initialized**:
```
❌ .agent/tasks/ directory not found
Run /nav:init to set up Navigator structure first.
```
**Task ID already exists (for creation)**:
```
⚠️ TASK-{XX} already exists
Options:
1. Read existing task
2. Use different ID
3. Archive/overwrite existing
Your choice [1-3]:
```
**Insufficient context to archive**:
```
⚠️ Not enough conversation context to generate implementation plan
Consider:
- Provide more details about what was built
- Manually create task doc
- Skip archiving
Continue with template? [y/N]:
```
## Success Criteria
Task documentation is successful when:
- [ ] Task file created in `.agent/tasks/`
- [ ] Filename follows convention: `TASK-{XX}-{slug}.md`
- [ ] Contains all required sections
- [ ] Navigator index updated
- [ ] PM tool updated (if configured)
- [ ] User can reference task later
## Scripts
**generate_task.py**: Create task documentation from conversation
- Input: Conversation history, task ID
- Output: Formatted task markdown
**update_index.py**: Update DEVELOPMENT-README.md task index
- Input: New task info
- Output: Updated index
## Best Practices
**Good task slugs**:
- `oauth-implementation` (descriptive)
- `stripe-payment-flow` (clear purpose)
- `user-profile-page` (specific feature)
**Bad task slugs**:
- `feature` (too vague)
- `fix` (not descriptive)
- `task1` (meaningless)
**When to create task docs**:
- ✅ Starting major feature (> 1 day work)
- ✅ Completing any feature (archive)
- ✅ Complex implementation (capture decisions)
- ❌ Tiny bug fixes (use SOPs instead)
- ❌ Exploratory work (wait until direction clear)
## Notes
Task docs are **living documents**:
- Created when starting feature (template)
- Updated during implementation (decisions)
- Finalized when complete (archive)
They serve as:
- Planning tool (before implementation)
- Progress tracker (during implementation)
- Historical record (after completion)
- Knowledge base (for team/future)
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