Project

Project

Overview

Use one project tracker file as the durable source of truth for long-running work. Keep the tracker current while you work, execute from Current Batch, validate at milestone boundaries, and archive the tracker when the scoped work is genuinely done.

Tracker Location

Follow repo-local guidance first.

1. If the repo defines a project-tracker home in STRUCTURE.md, AGENTS.md, or another root guidance file, use that.
   • Dobby workspace example: projects/<project>/tasks.md and projects/archive/<project>/tasks.md.
2. Otherwise use the default: docs/projects/<project>/tasks.md.
3. When archiving a finished project, archive under that same project-tracker home.

Workflow

1. Locate or create the tracker
   • If the tracker is missing, create it with references/tasks-template.md in the repo's project-tracker home.
2. Choose the operating mode from repo state
   • Missing tracker: create it.
   • Active tracker: resume from Current Batch.
   • Stale or incorrect tracker: replan in place before continuing.
   • Finished tracker: archive it when completion is well supported; ask only when completion is materially uncertain.
3. Close critical gaps before deep execution
   • Ask concise follow-up questions when missing scope, success criteria, constraints, dependencies, credentials, or approvals would predictably stall the project later.
4. Sync context from the tracker first
   • Read Current Batch, Milestones, Open Questions / Blockers, Progress Log, and Done When.
   • Read only the files named by the tracker or recent progress before scanning wider repo context.
5. Plan the next execution batch
   • Rebuild Current Batch if it is empty, stale, or obviously wrong.
   • Freeze any moving shared contract or acceptance rule in the parent thread before delegating implementation.
   • Bias the first delegated pass toward read-heavy analysis, external verification, log triage, or isolated test work.
   • Delegate write-heavy implementation only when ownership, success criteria, and validation are clear.
   • Read references/subagent-conventions.md when delegation is likely or when deciding whether to collapse work back local.
   • Read references/tracker-operating-rules.md when editing tracker structure, rebuilding Current Batch, checkpointing, or closing out the project.
6. Execute and validate
   • Implement the next batch directly.
   • Run repo-native validation first, then milestone-specific tests or smokes.
   • Fix failures before marking milestone or task completion.
7. Checkpoint
   • Update the tracker after each meaningful batch.
   • Record delegated outcomes, decisions, blockers, resource files, and progress while the details are fresh.
8. Persist until a real stop condition
   • Continue until all scoped work is complete, a true blocker needs human input, or a repo-safety decision requires the user.
9. Close out and archive
   • Treat archive as the default final action once Done When is satisfied, remaining work is complete or explicitly descoped, validation is acceptable, and no material blocker remains.
   • Archive the complete project directory, including tasks.md, learnings.md, and resources/, rather than moving its files one by one. File-by-file moves can leave empty active directories that Git cannot report.
   • Use the bundled scripts/archive_project.py resolved relative to this SKILL.md. It archives by default with --source <active-project-dir> --destination <tracker-home>/archive/<project> --no-input; use --dry-run only when an inspection pass is useful.
   • Require the successful result to report source_removed: true, then verify the active project path no longer exists and run the repo's normal checks before the final response.
   • Do not leave a completed tracker active as a ready-to-archive, done but still active, or empty-directory placeholder.
   • Ask before archiving only when completion is materially uncertain or closure depends on product judgment rather than implementation execution.
   • Summarize validation evidence, residual risks, and the archived tracker path in the final response. If you did not archive, state the concrete blocker.
   • Include a short delegation retrospective when subagents were used.
   • Review and finalize <project-root>/<project>/learnings.md before archive for long-running or tooling-heavy projects.

Core Rules

• Keep tasks.md as the canonical active memory for the project.
• Keep one orchestrator responsible for the tracker and final synthesis.
• Keep shared-boundary decisions in the parent thread.
• Use subagents only for bounded independent work; collapse back local when integration, validation orchestration, or runtime/device smoke work becomes dominant.
• Keep durable state in the repo, not only in chat.
• Do not stop with a completed project still in the active tracker folder; archive it or state the blocker.
• Treat a remaining empty active project directory as an incomplete archive, even though Git does not track it.

Resources

• Use references/tasks-template.md when creating or normalizing tasks.md.
• Use references/tracker-operating-rules.md for Current Batch, checkpoint, backlog, and closeout rules.
• Use references/subagent-conventions.md for delegation strategy, role split, split patterns, and anti-patterns.
• Use references/learnings-template.md when bootstrapping <project-root>/<project>/learnings.md.
• Use scripts/archive_project.py for safe whole-directory project archival.