Start Task

Start Task

Start a new task from a Jira ticket. Accepts a TRAIN board ticket ID as input (e.g., TRAIN-456). If no ticket ID is provided, ask: "Which ticket are you starting work on?"

Step 1: Preflight Checks

Before touching git, verify the environment is safe to start work:

1a. Check for a git repository:

git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree 2>/dev/null || echo "NOT_GIT"

If not in a git repo, stop and report: "Not inside a git repository. Navigate to your project directory first."

1b. Check for a dirty working tree:

git status --porcelain

If there are uncommitted changes, report them and ask: "Your working tree has uncommitted changes. Stash, commit, or discard them before starting a new task?" Do not proceed until the user confirms the tree is clean.

1c. Determine the source-of-truth branch: Default to main. If main doesn't exist, check for master:

git branch -r | grep -E 'origin/(main|master)' | head -1

1d. Pull latest:

git checkout main && git pull origin main

If this fails (e.g., merge conflicts, network error), stop and report the error.

Step 2: Fetch Ticket Details

Use the Atlassian MCP to fetch the ticket. The Jira cloud ID for datadoghq.atlassian.net is 66c05bee-f5ff-4718-b6fc-81351e5ef659.

Call mcp__plugin_atlassian_atlassian__getJiraIssue with the provided ticket ID.

Extract and display:

• Summary: The ticket title
• Type: Bug / Story / Task / etc.
• Status: Current status
• Priority: If set
• Description: First 300 characters (truncate with "..." if longer)
• Labels: All CET labels
• Epic/Parent: If set
• Acceptance Criteria / Definition of Done: If present in the description or a custom field

If the ticket is not found, report: "Ticket not found on the TRAIN board. Check the ticket ID and try again."

Step 3: Generate Branch Name

From the ticket summary, generate a kebab-case branch name:

• Lowercase all words
• Replace spaces and special characters with hyphens
• Remove articles (a, an, the) and filler words
• Keep it under 50 characters total
• Format: <TICKET-ID>-<short-description>

Examples:

• TRAIN-456 "Add dark mode toggle to dashboard" → train-456-dark-mode-dashboard
• TRAIN-123 "Fix NPE in user auth flow" → train-123-fix-npe-user-auth

Check for branch name collision:

git branch -a | grep "<generated-branch-name>"

If the branch already exists locally or remotely, append -2 (or increment) and report to the user.

Step 4: Create the Branch

git checkout -b <generated-branch-name>

Confirm success:

git branch --show-current

Step 5: Present Task Summary

Output a structured summary:

## Task Started: <TICKET-ID>

**Branch**: `<branch-name>`
**Ticket**: <TICKET-ID> — <Summary>
**Type**: <Issue Type> | **Priority**: <Priority> | **Status**: <Status>
**Epic**: <Epic name or "None">
**Labels**: <labels or "None">

### What to build
<Description excerpt>

### Definition of Done
<DoD bullets if present, or "See ticket for details">

### Suggested next steps
* Review the full ticket: https://datadoghq.atlassian.net/browse/<TICKET-ID>
* Create an ExecPlan: `mkdir -p ~/workspace/work-artifacts/<TICKET-ID>` then use plan mode (simple tasks) or the ExecPlan template at `~/.claude/templates/PLANS.md` (multi-session work)
* When done: use `commit-push-pr` skill to commit, push, and open a PR

Error Handling