Task Planning

Overview

Transforms specifications and implementation plans into actionable, dependency-ordered tasks. Creates phased breakdowns that guide systematic implementation.

When To Use

Converting specifications to implementation tasks
Planning feature implementation order
Identifying parallel execution opportunities
Breaking down complex features into phases

When NOT To Use

Writing specifications - use spec-writing

Task Phases

Tasks follow a 5-phase structure from setup through polish:

Phase 0: Setup - Project initialization, dependencies, configuration
Phase 1: Foundation - Data models, interfaces, test infrastructure
Phase 2: Core Implementation - Business logic, APIs, services
Phase 3: Integration - External services, middleware, logging
Phase 4: Polish - Optimization, documentation, final testing

For detailed phase definitions, selection guidelines, and anti-patterns, see modules/phase-structure.md.

Task Format

Each task includes:

ID: Unique identifier (TASK-001)
Description: Clear action statement
Phase: Which phase it belongs to
Dependencies: Tasks that must complete first
Parallel Marker: [P] if can run concurrently
Files: Affected file paths
Criteria: How to verify completion

Dependency Rules

Dependencies define execution order and identify parallelization opportunities:

Sequential Tasks: Execute in strict order when dependencies exist
Parallel Tasks [P]: Can run concurrently when ALL nonconflicting conditions are met
File Coordination: Tasks affecting same files MUST run sequentially

Nonconflicting Criteria for Parallel Execution:

✅ Files: No file overlap between tasks
✅ State: No shared configuration or global state
✅ Dependencies: All prerequisites satisfied
✅ Code paths: No merge conflicts possible
✅ Outputs: Tasks don't need each other's results

Mark tasks with [P] ONLY if they pass ALL criteria above.

For fan-out/fan-in patterns, task ID conventions, and validation rules, see modules/dependency-patterns.md.

Example Task Entry

## Phase 2: Core Implementation

### TASK-007 - Implement user authentication service [P]
**Dependencies**: TASK-003, TASK-004
**Files**: src/services/auth.ts, src/types/user.ts
**Criteria**: All auth tests pass, tokens are valid JWT

Verification: Run pytest -v to verify tests pass.

Quality Checklist

All requirements mapped to tasks
Dependencies are explicit
Parallel opportunities identified
Tasks are right-sized (not too large/small)
Each task has clear completion criteria

Related Skills

spec-writing: Creating source specifications
speckit-orchestrator: Workflow coordination

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Command not found Ensure all dependencies are installed and in PATH

Permission errors Check file permissions and run with appropriate privileges

Unexpected behavior Enable verbose logging with --verbose flag

task-planning