Aitask Fold

Workflow

Step 0a: Select Execution Profile

Execute the Execution Profile Selection Procedure (see .claude/skills/task-workflow/execution-profile-selection.md).

Step 0b: Check for Explicit Task IDs (Optional Argument)

If this skill is invoked with arguments (e.g., /aitask-fold 106,108,112 or /aitask-fold 106 108 112):

• Parse task IDs: Split the argument string by commas and/or spaces to extract individual task IDs. Each ID should be a number (e.g., 106) — child task IDs (e.g., 106_2) are not supported for folding.

• Validate each task ID: For each parsed ID:

  • Find the task file:

    ./.aitask-scripts/aitask_query_files.sh task-file <id>
    

    Parse the output: TASK_FILE:<path> means found (use that path), NOT_FOUND means not found.
  • If not found: warn "t<id>: file not found — skipping" and exclude.
  • If found, read the task file's frontmatter and check eligibility:
    • Status check: Must be Ready or Editing. If not, warn "t<id>: status is <status> — skipping" and exclude.
    • Children check: Must not have children:

      ./.aitask-scripts/aitask_query_files.sh has-children <id>
      

      Parse the output: HAS_CHILDREN:<count> means it has children — warn "t<id>: has children — skipping" and exclude. NO_CHILDREN means eligible.
    • Child task check: Must not be a child task itself (the filename must match t<number>_*.md with a single number, not t<parent>_<child>_*.md). If it's a child task, warn "t<id>: is a child task — skipping" and exclude.

• Check remaining count: If fewer than 2 valid tasks remain after filtering, inform user "Need at least 2 eligible tasks to fold. Only <N> valid task(s) found." and abort the workflow.

• If 2 or more valid tasks remain, skip to Step 2 (Primary Task Selection) with the valid task set.

If no argument is provided, proceed with Step 1 as normal.

Step 0c: Sync with Remote (Best-effort)

Do a best-effort sync to ensure the local state is up to date and clean up stale locks:

./.aitask-scripts/aitask_pick_own.sh --sync

This is non-blocking — if it fails (e.g., no network, merge conflicts), it continues silently.

Step 1: Interactive Task Discovery

This step is only executed when no task IDs were provided as arguments.

Execute the Related Task Discovery Procedure (see .claude/skills/task-workflow/related-task-discovery.md) with:

• Matching context: (not used — fold uses "all" mode)
• Purpose text: "fold together into a single task (minimum 2)"
• Min eligible: 2
• Selection mode: all

If the procedure returns fewer than 2 task IDs, inform user "Need at least 2 tasks to fold." and abort the workflow.

Store the selected task IDs for Step 2 (Primary Task Selection).

Step 2: Primary Task Selection

Present the selected tasks and ask the user which should be the "primary" task. The primary task is the one that survives — all other tasks' content will be merged into it, and the other tasks will be deleted after the primary is implemented and archived.

Use AskUserQuestion:

• Question: "Which task should be the primary? (Other tasks' content will be merged into it, and they will be deleted after implementation)"
• Header: "Primary"
• Options: Each selected task with filename as label and a brief summary as description

Pagination: If more than 4 tasks are selected, paginate with the same pattern as Step 1c.

Step 3: Merge Content

3a-3c: Incorporate Folded Task Content

Execute the Task Fold Content Procedure (see .claude/skills/task-workflow/task-fold-content.md) with:

• primary_description: The primary task's current description body
• folded_task_files: All non-primary task file paths

Update the primary task's description with the returned merged content:

./.aitask-scripts/aitask_update.sh --batch <primary_num> --desc-file - <<'TASK_DESC'
<merged description>
TASK_DESC

3d-3f: Mark Folded Tasks

Execute the Task Fold Marking Procedure (see .claude/skills/task-workflow/task-fold-marking.md) with:

• primary_task_num: <primary_num>
• folded_task_ids: All non-primary task IDs
• handle_transitive: true
• commit_mode: "fresh"

Step 4: Decision Point

Profile check: If the active profile has explore_auto_continue set to true:

• Display: "Profile '<name>': continuing to implementation"
• Skip the AskUserQuestion below and proceed directly to the handoff

Default when explore_auto_continue is not defined: false (always ask the user).

Otherwise, use AskUserQuestion:

• Question: "Tasks folded successfully into t<primary_id>. How would you like to proceed?"
• Header: "Proceed"
• Options:
  • "Continue to implementation" (description: "Start implementing the merged task now via the standard workflow")
  • "Save for later" (description: "Task saved — pick it up later with /aitask-pick ")

If "Save for later":

• Inform user: "Task t<primary_id>_<name>.md is ready. Run /aitask-pick <primary_id> when you want to implement it."
• End the workflow.

If "Continue to implementation":

• Proceed to the handoff below.

Step 5: Hand Off to Shared Workflow

Set the following context variables from the primary task, then read and follow .claude/skills/task-workflow/SKILL.md starting from Step 3: Task Status Checks:

• task_file: Path to the primary task file (e.g., aitasks/t106_fix_login_timeout.md)
• task_id: The primary task number (e.g., 106)
• task_name: The filename stem (e.g., t106_fix_login_timeout)
• is_child: false (fold creates standalone merged tasks)
• parent_id: null
• parent_task_file: null
• active_profile: The execution profile loaded in Step 0a (or null if no profile)
• active_profile_filename: The <filename> value from the scanner output for the selected profile (e.g., fast.yaml or local/fast.yaml), or null if no profile
• previous_status: Ready
• folded_tasks: List of non-primary task IDs folded into this task (e.g., [108, 112])
• skill_name: "fold"

Notes

• This skill merges existing tasks — unlike /aitask-explore which creates a new task and folds others into it, /aitask-fold selects one existing task as the "primary" and merges others into it
• Only standalone parent-level tasks without children and with status Ready or Editing are eligible for folding
• Child tasks cannot be folded — they are part of a parent task hierarchy and folding would break that structure
• When a task ID is invalid or ineligible, it is excluded with a warning rather than aborting the entire operation. The workflow only aborts if fewer than 2 valid tasks remain
• If the primary task already has a folded_tasks frontmatter field (e.g., from a previous fold operation), new IDs are appended to the existing list
• The explore_auto_continue profile key controls whether to ask the user about continuing to implementation (default: false, always ask). This is the same key used by /aitask-explore
• Post-implementation cleanup (deleting folded task files, releasing locks, updating linked issues) is handled by task-workflow Step 9 — no additional cleanup logic is needed in this skill
• The folded_tasks frontmatter field tracks which task IDs to clean up. Folded tasks are set to status Folded with a folded_into property pointing to the primary task. They are deleted after archival
• When handing off to task-workflow, the primary task has status Ready — task-workflow's Step 4 will set it to Implementing