# Daily Task Manager > Task lifecycle management with stable task IDs. Add, complete, defer, remove, and review tasks with deterministic action routing and fail-closed ambiguity handling. Maintains a running task list as a brain page. - Skill: `garrytan-gbrain/daily-task-manager` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add garrytan-gbrain/daily-task-manager` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/garrytan-gbrain/daily-task-manager/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Productivity - Author: garrytan (https://skillmd.com/u/garrytan-gbrain) - Updated: 2026-09-09 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/garrytan-gbrain/daily-task-manager --- # Daily Task Manager ## Contract This skill guarantees: - Tasks stored as a brain page (`ops/tasks.md`) with structured format and a stable `id` per task - Task lifecycle: add → in-progress → complete | defer | remove - Priority levels: P0 (urgent), P1 (today), P2 (this week), P3 (backlog) - Completed tasks archived with completion date; deferred tasks carry a target date + reason - Mutations never drop unrelated tasks or unknown sections - Every action returns the structured result below (Returns) ### Returns After every action, report a structured result so callers (including sub-agents) can chain reliably: ``` {action, task_id, status: ok|not_found|ambiguous|needs_confirmation, priority, date, page: "ops/tasks.md", saved: true|false} ``` For `review`, return the grouped active-task list instead of a single task_id. When invoked with the trigger "task list json", return a JSON array of task objects `{id, description, priority, due, status}` instead of markdown. ## Tool Interface Use ONLY the declared tools. `get_page("ops/tasks.md")` to read, `put_page("ops/tasks.md", …)` to write, `add_timeline_entry` for the audit trail, `search` for cross-referencing. Do not shell out to `gbrain` CLI verbs from this skill; the tools are the interface. (When the user runs this manually outside an agent, the CLI equivalents are `gbrain get ops/tasks` / `gbrain put ops/tasks` — equivalents only, not the skill's interface.) ## Action Routing Map user intent deterministically before touching state: - "add / remind me to / put X on my list" → **add** - "done with X / finished X / completed X / ✅ X" → **complete** - "push X / defer X / move X to next week" → **defer** - "delete X / remove X / kill task X" → **remove** (explicit delete words only — never infer remove) - "what are my tasks / task list / what's on my plate (today)" → **review** ("today" filters to P0+P1) ## Phases 1. **Load.** `get_page("ops/tasks.md")`. **First run:** if the page does not exist, create it from the Output Format template, then proceed. 2. **Validate.** Determine the action via Action Routing. If required fields are missing (see per-action rules), ask ONE concise clarification before mutating state. Never fabricate priorities, due dates, or defer reasons. 3. **Identify the target task** (complete/defer/remove): match by `id` when given; otherwise fuzzy-match description against ACTIVE tasks only. Zero matches → return `not_found`, do not mutate. Multiple matches → list candidates with IDs, return `ambiguous`, do not mutate. 4. **Execute:** - **Add:** Require a description. Priority: use the user's stated/clearly-implied level; otherwise default to **P3 and say so in the reply + timeline entry**. Due date only if supplied or explicit in the user's words. Mint a new task ID (`t-YYYYMMDD-NN`, NN = next free ordinal that day). Add a timeline entry. - **Complete:** Mark `[x]`, move to Completed with `(completed: YYYY-MM-DD)`. - **Defer:** Require a target date/timeframe AND a reason; ask if missing. Move to Deferred preserving original text, ID, and priority unless the user changes them. - **Remove:** Destructive — require explicit confirmation unless the user's message already contains it. Prefer suggesting complete or defer. - **Review:** Read-only. Never mutates. Active tasks grouped by priority, IDs shown. 5. **Save.** `put_page("ops/tasks.md")` after any mutation. Diff-mindset: touch only the affected lines; preserve all other content, including sections this skill doesn't recognize. ## Edge Cases - **First run:** page missing → create from template before acting; `status: ok`, note "initialized". - **Malformed page:** if `ops/tasks.md` exists but doesn't match the schema, do NOT rewrite it wholesale. Append/edit within it minimally, preserve unknown content verbatim, and flag the malformation in the reply. - **Retry/duplicate add:** if an identical description already exists in active tasks, do not add a duplicate — report the existing task ID instead. - **Dates:** ISO 8601 (`YYYY-MM-DD`) everywhere. Compute "today"/"next week" with code/clock, never guess. - **Page identifier:** always `ops/tasks.md` (with extension) in tool calls; this is the single canonical location. - **Single-writer assumption (concurrency limitation).** The task cycle is read-modify-write: `get_page("ops/tasks.md")` → edit → `put_page("ops/tasks.md")`. `put_page` replaces the WHOLE page and has no compare-and-swap, so two mutations that interleave are last-writer-wins: the second `put_page` overwrites the first's change (a completed task reappears, an added task vanishes), and the `t-YYYYMMDD-NN` minting can hand the same ordinal to two concurrent adds (duplicate IDs). Serialize task edits — never run parallel task mutations (multiple subagents, concurrent chat turns) against `ops/tasks.md`. If a mutation might race, re-`get_page` immediately before `put_page` and re-derive the next free ordinal from the freshly-read page. ## Output Format ### Persisted page format Each task carries a stable ID so later actions can target it safely: ```markdown # Tasks ## P0 — Urgent - [ ] {task description} (due: {date}) ## P1 — Today - [ ] {task description} (due: {date optional}) ## P2 — This Week - [ ] {task description} (due: {date optional}) ## P3 — Backlog - [ ] {task description} ## Deferred - [ ] {task description} (deferred until: {date}; reason: {reason}) ## Completed - [x] {task description} (completed: {date}) ``` ### User-facing response After a mutation: one concise line — action, task ID, priority/status, relevant date, saved-or-not. For review: active tasks grouped by priority. Keep replies compact; avoid tables on narrow chat surfaces. ## Anti-Patterns Each with its corrective action: - Adding a task without priority → default P3 and SAY the default was applied (never silent). - Mutating on an ambiguous reference → stop, list candidates with IDs, ask. - Completing without a completion date → always stamp `(completed: YYYY-MM-DD)`. - Deferring without target date + reason → ask for both first. - Removing without explicit confirmation → confirm first; offer complete/defer instead. - Overwriting the page wholesale / dropping unknown sections → minimal diff edits only. - Using undeclared tools or CLI verbs → `get_page`/`put_page`/`search`/`add_timeline_entry` only. - Fabricating due dates, priorities, or reasons → never invent required fields; ask. - Unbounded list growth → when Backlog exceeds ~20 items, prompt a weekly review. - Storing tasks outside the brain page → everything lives in `ops/tasks.md` (searchable). - Running parallel task mutations against `ops/tasks.md` → last-writer-wins whole-page `put_page` silently loses updates and mints duplicate IDs; serialize edits, re-read immediately before writing. ## Design Rationale (failure modes this version closes) - **Interface drift:** an earlier version declared `get_page`/`put_page` as tools but instructed CLI verbs in the body — models picked one at random. The declared tools are now the interface; CLI is relegated to a human-equivalent note. - **Unmatchable tasks:** without task IDs, "complete the deploy task" against two similar tasks silently mutated the wrong one. Stable `t-YYYYMMDD-NN` IDs + fail-closed ambiguity handling fix this. - **First-run crash:** assuming `ops/tasks.md` exists made a missing page undefined behavior. Create-from-template on first run fixes this. - **Wholesale overwrite risk:** "write updated task list" invited full-page rewrites that drop concurrent edits. Minimal-diff mandate + preserve-unknown-content rule fix this.