Task Formatting

Task Formatting

Tools for formatting and structuring tasks for ClickUp, Linear, and other project management systems.

Quick Start

Format ClickUp task:

python scripts/format_clickup_task.py --title "Add feature" --description desc.md --priority high --output task.json

Format Linear issue:

python scripts/format_linear_issue.py --title "Fix bug" --description "Bug details" --team-id abc123 --output issue.json

Calculate priority:

python scripts/calculate_priority.py --urgency high --impact high --effort low

Task Formatting Patterns

1. ClickUp Task Format

Standard task structure:

{
  "name": "Task Title",
  "description": "Detailed description with markdown",
  "priority": 2,
  "status": "to do",
  "tags": ["bug", "urgent"],
  "assignees": [123456],
  "due_date": "2026-01-20",
  "time_estimate": 3600000
}

Priority levels:

• 1 = Urgent (red)
• 2 = High (orange)
• 3 = Normal (yellow)
• 4 = Low (gray)

Common statuses:

• to do
• in progress
• review
• done

2. Linear Issue Format

Standard issue structure:

{
  "title": "Issue Title",
  "description": "Detailed description with markdown",
  "priority": 1,
  "teamId": "abc123",
  "assigneeId": "user-id",
  "labelIds": ["label-1", "label-2"],
  "stateId": "state-id",
  "estimate": 3
}

Priority levels:

• 0 = No priority
• 1 = Urgent
• 2 = High
• 3 = Normal
• 4 = Low

Common states:

• Backlog
• Todo
• In Progress
• In Review
• Done
• Canceled

Priority Calculation

Formula

Calculate task priority based on multiple factors:

Priority Score = (Urgency × 3) + (Impact × 2) + (Effort × -1)

Where:
- Urgency: 1-5 (how soon it needs to be done)
- Impact: 1-5 (how many people/systems affected)
- Effort: 1-5 (how much work required)

Mapping to priority levels:

• Score ≥ 15: Urgent (Priority 1)
• Score 10-14: High (Priority 2)
• Score 5-9: Normal (Priority 3)
• Score < 5: Low (Priority 4)

Examples

Bug affecting production:

Urgency: 5 (needs immediate fix)
Impact: 5 (all users affected)
Effort: 2 (quick fix)

Score = (5 × 3) + (5 × 2) + (2 × -1) = 15 + 10 - 2 = 23
Priority: Urgent (1)

Feature request:

Urgency: 2 (can wait)
Impact: 3 (some users want it)
Effort: 4 (significant work)

Score = (2 × 3) + (3 × 2) + (4 × -1) = 6 + 6 - 4 = 8
Priority: Normal (3)

Technical debt:

Urgency: 1 (no rush)
Impact: 2 (affects developers only)
Effort: 3 (moderate work)

Score = (1 × 3) + (2 × 2) + (3 × -1) = 3 + 4 - 3 = 4
Priority: Low (4)

Status Mapping

ClickUp ↔ Linear Mapping

STATUS_MAP = {
    # ClickUp → Linear
    "to do": "Todo",
    "in progress": "In Progress",
    "review": "In Review",
    "done": "Done",
    "blocked": "Blocked",

    # Linear → ClickUp
    "Backlog": "to do",
    "Todo": "to do",
    "In Progress": "in progress",
    "In Review": "review",
    "Done": "done",
    "Canceled": "closed"
}

GitHub Issues ↔ ClickUp/Linear

GITHUB_STATUS_MAP = {
    # GitHub → ClickUp/Linear
    "open": "to do",
    "in_progress": "in progress",
    "closed": "done",

    # ClickUp/Linear → GitHub
    "to do": "open",
    "in progress": "open",
    "review": "open",
    "done": "closed"
}

Task Templates

Bug Report

# Bug Report

## Description
[Brief description of the bug]

## Steps to Reproduce
1. Step one
2. Step two
3. Step three

## Expected Behavior
[What should happen]

## Actual Behavior
[What actually happens]

## Environment
- Browser/Device:
- OS:
- Version:

## Screenshots
[If applicable]

## Additional Context
[Any other relevant information]

Feature Request

# Feature Request

## Problem Statement
[What problem does this solve?]

## Proposed Solution
[How should we solve it?]

## Alternatives Considered
[What other approaches did you consider?]

## User Stories
- As a [role], I want [feature] so that [benefit]

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] Criterion 1
- [ ] Criterion 2
- [ ] Criterion 3

## Technical Notes
[Any technical considerations]

Task

# Task

## Objective
[What needs to be done?]

## Context
[Why is this important?]

## Steps
1. Step one
2. Step two
3. Step three

## Definition of Done
- [ ] Implementation complete
- [ ] Tests written
- [ ] Documentation updated
- [ ] Code reviewed
- [ ] Merged to main

Scripts

format_clickup_task.py

Format a task for ClickUp.

Usage:

python scripts/format_clickup_task.py \
    --title "Add user authentication" \
    --description description.md \
    --priority high \
    --tags "feature,auth" \
    --due-date "2026-01-20" \
    --estimate 4h \
    --output task.json

Arguments:

• --title: Task title (required)
• --description: Description text or markdown file
• --priority: Priority level (urgent, high, normal, low)
• --tags: Comma-separated tags
• --due-date: Due date (YYYY-MM-DD)
• --estimate: Time estimate (e.g., "4h", "2d")
• --output: Output JSON file

format_linear_issue.py

Format an issue for Linear.

Usage:

python scripts/format_linear_issue.py \
    --title "Fix login bug" \
    --description "Users can't login" \
    --team-id "team-abc" \
    --priority urgent \
    --labels "bug,auth" \
    --estimate 3 \
    --output issue.json

Arguments:

• --title: Issue title (required)
• --description: Description text
• --team-id: Team ID (required)
• --priority: Priority level (urgent, high, normal, low)
• --labels: Comma-separated labels
• --estimate: Story points (1-5)
• --output: Output JSON file

calculate_priority.py

Calculate task priority based on factors.

Usage:

python scripts/calculate_priority.py \
    --urgency 5 \
    --impact 4 \
    --effort 2 \
    --format clickup

Arguments:

• --urgency: Urgency level (1-5)
• --impact: Impact level (1-5)
• --effort: Effort level (1-5)
• --format: Output format (clickup, linear)

Output:

{
  "score": 23,
  "priority": 1,
  "priority_label": "Urgent",
  "recommendation": "Address immediately",
  "factors": {
    "urgency": 5,
    "impact": 4,
    "effort": 2
  }
}

Task Metadata

Labels/Tags

Bug-related:

• bug - General bug
• critical-bug - Severe bug affecting many users
• minor-bug - Small issue with workaround

Feature-related:

• feature - New feature
• enhancement - Improvement to existing feature
• refactor - Code improvement without new functionality

Type:

• documentation - Documentation update
• test - Test-related
• ci/cd - CI/CD pipeline
• security - Security-related
• performance - Performance improvement

Priority:

• urgent - Needs immediate attention
• high-priority - Important but not urgent
• low-priority - Can wait

Time Estimates

ClickUp (milliseconds):

• 1 hour = 3,600,000
• 2 hours = 7,200,000
• 4 hours = 14,400,000
• 1 day = 28,800,000 (8 hours)

Linear (story points):

• 1 point = ~2 hours
• 2 points = ~4 hours
• 3 points = ~1 day
• 5 points = ~2 days
• 8 points = ~1 week

Helper function:

def parse_time_estimate(estimate_str: str) -> int:
    """
    Parse time estimate string to milliseconds.

    Examples:
        "2h" → 7,200,000
        "1d" → 28,800,000
        "30m" → 1,800,000
    """

Integration with Agents

Automation Agent

from task_formatting import format_clickup_task, calculate_priority

# Calculate priority
priority_data = calculate_priority(urgency=5, impact=4, effort=2)

# Format task
task = format_clickup_task(
    title="Fix critical bug",
    description="Bug description",
    priority=priority_data['priority'],
    tags=['bug', 'urgent']
)

# Create in ClickUp
clickup_client.create_task(
    list_id='list-123',
    **task
)

Code Agent

from task_formatting import format_linear_issue

# Create issue from GitHub PR
issue = format_linear_issue(
    title=pr['title'],
    description=pr['body'],
    team_id='team-abc',
    priority='normal',
    labels=['pr-review']
)

# Create in Linear
linear_client.create_issue(**issue)

Best Practices

Task Titles

• Start with verb (Add, Fix, Update, Refactor)
• Be specific and concise
• Include context when needed
• 50-70 characters maximum

Good:

• "Add user authentication with OAuth"
• "Fix login redirect bug on mobile"
• "Update payment processing to Stripe API v2"

Bad:

• "Auth" (too vague)
• "Fix bug" (not specific)
• "Update the entire payment processing system to use the new Stripe API version 2 with improved error handling" (too long)

Task Descriptions

• Start with problem statement
• Include context and background
• List acceptance criteria
• Add technical notes if needed
• Link to related tasks/docs

Priority Assignment

• Don't make everything urgent
• Consider actual impact
• Factor in effort required
• Review priorities regularly
• Use data when available

Status Updates

• Update status promptly
• Add comments for blockers
• Tag people when needed
• Close completed tasks
• Archive old tasks

Examples

See templates/ directory for example tasks:

• bug_report_template.json
• feature_request_template.json
• task_template.json