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Linear Task Planner (Orchestrator)

Coordinates creation or replanning of implementation tasks for a Story. Builds the ideal plan first, then routes to workers.

Inputs

Input	Required	Source	Description
`storyId`	Yes	args, git branch, kanban, user	Story to process

Resolution: Story Resolution Chain. Status filter: Backlog, Todo

Purpose & Scope

Auto-discover Team ID, load Story context (AC, Technical Notes, Context)
Build optimal implementation task plan (1-8 implementation tasks; NO test/refactoring tasks) in Foundation-First order
Detect mode and delegate: CREATE/ADD -> ln-301-task-creator, REPLAN -> ln-302-task-replanner
Strip any Non-Functional Requirements; only functional scope becomes tasks
Never creates/updates Linear or kanban directly (workers do)

Task Storage Mode

MANDATORY READ: Load shared/references/tools_config_guide.md, shared/references/storage_mode_detection.md, and shared/references/input_resolution_pattern.md

Extract: task_provider = Task Management → Provider (linear | file).

Workers (ln-301, ln-302) handle the actual Linear/File operations based on task_provider.

When to Use

Need tasks for a Story with clear AC/Technical Notes
Story requirements changed and existing tasks must be updated
Only for implementation tasks (test tasks → ln-404, refactoring → quality gate)

Quality Criteria

MANDATORY READ: Load shared/references/creation_quality_checklist.md §Task Creation Checklist for validation criteria that ln-310 will enforce.

Workflow (concise)

Phase 1 Discovery: Auto-discover Team ID (docs/tasks/kanban_board.md). Resolve storyId: Run Story Resolution Chain per guide (status filter: [Backlog, Todo]).
Phase 2 Decompose (always): MANDATORY READ: shared/references/goal_articulation_gate.md — Before building IDEAL plan, state REAL GOAL of this Story in one sentence (the deliverable, not the process). Verify: does the decomposition serve THIS goal? Then: Load Story (AC, Technical Notes, Context), assess complexity, build IDEAL plan (1-8 implementation tasks only), scan for reusable patterns (Grep src/ for error handlers, validators, utilities relevant to task categories — count only; if found, append **Pattern Hint:** {count} existing {category} patterns in src/. Review for reuse before creating new (Step 4a in ln-401). to relevant task descriptions), apply Foundation-First execution order, validate Task Independence, assign Parallel Groups, define verification methods for each task AC, extract guide links.
Phase 3 Check & Detect Mode: Query Linear for existing tasks (metadata only). Detect mode by count + user keywords (add/replan).
Phase 4 Delegate: Call the right worker with Story data, IDEAL plan/append request, guide links, existing task IDs if any; autoApprove=true.
Phase 5 Verify: Ensure worker returns URLs/summary and updated kanban_board.md; report result.

Task Plan Readiness Score

Context: Validates plan quality before delegation to workers, preventing rework.

After building IDEAL plan (Phase 2), score 7 criteria:

#	Criterion	Check
1	Independence	No forward dependencies between tasks (Task N uses only 1..N-1)
2	AC clarity	Each task AC has measurable outcome AND verification method (test/command/inspect)
3	Tech confidence	All referenced technologies/patterns are known or researched
4	Scope isolation	Tasks don't overlap with sibling Stories' tasks. Load siblings (`list_issues project=Epic.id`), compare Affected Components and file paths for structural overlap
5	Architecture compliance	Tasks reference correct layers (DB→Repo→Service→API), no planned cross-layer violations (e.g., API task doing direct DB calls)
6	Parallel groups valid	Tasks in same group have no mutual dependencies; all deps point to earlier groups; numbers sequential
7	Destructive op safety	Tasks with data deletion/migration/schema changes include safety plan (backup, rollback, blast radius)

Score = count of PASS criteria (0-7)

6-7/7: Delegate to worker
4-5/7: Show warnings to user, fix or proceed
<4/7: Rework plan before delegation

Verification Methods for Task AC

Context: Goal-Driven Execution pattern — define HOW to verify each AC at planning time so executor (ln-401) can loop through verifications after implementation.

When building IDEAL plan (Phase 2), each task AC must include a verify: method:

Method	When to Use	Example
test	Existing test covers AC	`verify: test (test_auth.py::test_login_success)`
command	CLI command validates outcome	`verify: command (curl -X POST /users → 201)`
inspect	File/output check	`verify: inspect (migration file has email column)`

Rule: At least 1 AC per task must use test or command (not all inspect).

MANDATORY READ: Load shared/references/ac_validation_rules.md §5 for full format and examples.

Task Independence Validation

Rules per creation_quality_checklist.md #19 (dependencies) and #13 (Foundation-First order).

Examples:

❌ WRONG: "Task 2: Validate token (requires Task 3 to generate keys)"
✅ RIGHT: "Task 1: Generate keys" → "Task 2: Validate token (uses Task 1 keys)"

If forward dependency detected: Reorder, refactor to remove dependency, or split into sequential parts.

Parallel Group Assignment

After building IDEAL plan and validating independence, assign Parallel Group numbers to enable concurrent execution in ln-400.

Algorithm:

group = 1
FOR EACH task T IN ordered_plan:
  deps = tasks that T depends on (from Related/Context)
  IF any dep is in CURRENT group:
    group++
  T.parallel_group = group

Example:

Task	Dependencies	Group
T1: DB migration	none	1
T2: UserRepo	T1	2
T3: ProductRepo	T1	2
T4: UserService	T2	3
T5: API endpoint	T4	4

Rules:

Tasks in the same group have NO mutual dependencies (only depend on previous groups)
Group numbers are sequential (1, 2, 3...), no gaps
Single-task groups are valid (sequential execution, same as current behavior)
Write **Parallel Group:** {N} in each task document (per shared/templates/task_template_implementation.md)
Backward compatibility: if task lacks **Parallel Group:** field, ln-400 treats it as its own group (sequential)

Mode Matrix

Condition	Mode	Delegate	Payload
Count = 0	CREATE	ln-301-task-creator	taskType=implementation, Story data, IDEAL plan, guideLinks
Count > 0 AND "add"/"append"	ADD	ln-301-task-creator	taskType=implementation, appendMode=true, newTaskDescription, guideLinks
Count > 0 AND replan keywords	REPLAN	ln-302-task-replanner	taskType=implementation, Story data, IDEAL plan, guideLinks, existingTaskIds
Count > 0 AND ambiguous	ASK	Clarify with user	—

Plan Mode Behavior

When invoked in Plan Mode (read-only):

Execute Phases 1-3 normally (Discovery, Decompose, Check Existing)
Phase 4: DO NOT delegate to workers — instead show IDEAL plan preview:
- Task titles, goals, estimates, Foundation-First order
- Mode detected (CREATE/ADD/REPLAN)
- What worker WOULD be invoked (ln-301 or ln-302)
Phase 5: Write plan summary to plan file (not Linear)
NO Linear API calls, NO kanban updates, NO worker invocations

TodoWrite format (mandatory): Add phases to todos before starting:

- Phase 1: Discovery (in_progress)
- Phase 2: Decompose & Build IDEAL Plan (pending)
- Phase 3: Check Existing & Detect Mode (pending)
- Phase 4: Delegate to ln-301/ln-302 (pending)
- Phase 5: Verify worker result (pending)

Mark each as in_progress when starting, completed when done.

Critical Rules

Decompose-first: always build IDEAL plan before looking at existing tasks.
Foundation-First execution order per creation_quality_checklist.md #13.
Task limits: 1-8 implementation tasks, 3-5h each (3-5 tasks optimal). Test task created later by test planner.
Linear creation must be sequential: create one task, confirm success, then create the next (no bulk) to catch errors early.
HARD CONSTRAINT: This skill creates ONLY implementation tasks (taskType=implementation). NEVER include test tasks, manual testing tasks, or refactoring tasks in the plan. Test tasks are created LATER by test planner (after manual testing passes). Refactoring tasks are created by quality gate when code quality issues found.
No code snippets in descriptions; workers own task documents and Linear/kanban updates.
Language preservation: keep Story language (EN/RU) in any generated content by workers.

Definition of Done (orchestrator)

Team ID discovered; storyId resolved (per input_resolution_pattern.md).
Story loaded; IDEAL plan built (1-8 implementation tasks only) with Foundation-First order and guide links.
NO test or refactoring tasks in IDEAL plan (only taskType=implementation).
Existing tasks counted; mode selected (CREATE/ADD/REPLAN or ask).
Worker invoked with correct payload and autoApprove=true.
Worker summary received (Linear URLs/operations) and kanban update confirmed.
Next steps returned (ln-310-multi-agent-validator, then orchestrator continues).

Meta-Analysis

MANDATORY READ: Load shared/references/meta_analysis_protocol.md

Skill type: planning-coordinator. Run after all phases complete. Output to chat using the planning-coordinator format.

Reference Files

Tools config: shared/references/tools_config_guide.md
Storage mode operations: shared/references/storage_mode_detection.md
[MANDATORY] Problem-solving approach: shared/references/problem_solving.md
Orchestrator lifecycle: shared/references/orchestrator_pattern.md
Auto-discovery patterns: shared/references/auto_discovery_pattern.md
Decompose-first pattern: shared/references/decompose_first_pattern.md
Plan mode behavior: shared/references/plan_mode_pattern.md
Numbering conventions: shared/references/numbering_conventions.md (Task per-Story numbering)
Templates (centralized): shared/templates/task_template_implementation.md
Local copies: docs/templates/task_template_implementation.md (in target project, created by workers)
Replan algorithm details: ln-302-task-replanner/references/replan_algorithm.md
Auto-discovery notes: CLAUDE.md, docs/tasks/kanban_board.md

Version: 4.0.0 Last Updated: 2026-02-03

ln-300-task-coordinator