# Project > Create, resume, replan, and close long-running project work using the repo's project-tracker home (usually `docs/projects/PROJECT/tasks.md`, but follow repo guidance such as `projects/PROJECT/tasks.md` when specified). Use when starting a new project, continuing an existing project, refreshing a stale plan, or asking an agent to handle a complicated multi-session task with durable repo memory, milestone validation, and a clear resume point. - Skill: `wisdom-in-a-nutshell/project` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 7 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add wisdom-in-a-nutshell/project` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/wisdom-in-a-nutshell/project/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: AI & ML - Author: wisdom-in-a-nutshell (https://skillmd.com/u/wisdom-in-a-nutshell) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/wisdom-in-a-nutshell/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//tasks.md` and `projects/archive//tasks.md`. 2. Otherwise use the default: `docs/projects//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 --destination /archive/ --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 `//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 `//learnings.md`. - Use `scripts/archive_project.py` for safe whole-directory project archival.