Agent skill
work-summary
Install this agent skill to your Project
npx add-skill https://github.com/jpicklyk/task-orchestrator/tree/main/claude-plugins/task-orchestrator/skills/work-summary
SKILL.md
Work Summary — Current (v3)
Generate a PM-ready project dashboard. The goal is to show the full project state in one view — every container, every item, with enough detail (IDs, tags, priority, status) to make decisions and take action. Supplement the data with brief observations only when there is a genuine anomaly or actionable insight.
Step 0 — Scope Check
If $ARGUMENTS is provided:
- If it looks like a UUID, use it directly as
parentIdfor all queries below - If it's text, search:
query_items(operation="search", query="<text>")— pick the best-matching root or container item and use its UUID asparentId - If multiple matches, pick the closest title match; if ambiguous, use
AskUserQuestionto clarify
When scoped to a parentId, modify the data collection calls:
query_items(operation="overview", itemId="<parentId>")— scoped overview of that subtreeget_context()— still global (filter to scope in analysis phase)get_next_item(limit=5, parentId="<parentId>")— scoped recommendations
If no $ARGUMENTS, proceed with the global (unscoped) data collection as written below.
Data Collection (3 calls, run in parallel)
query_items(operation="overview", includeChildren=true)— all root items with childCounts per role and direct childrenget_context()— active (work/review), blocked, and stalled itemsget_next_item(limit=5)— dependency-aware ranked recommendations
Why 3 calls: Overview gives hierarchy structure, child counts, tags, priority, type, and traits for all items. get_context gives active/blocked/stalled signals. get_next_item gives dependency-aware recommendations.
Enrichment Phase
Before rendering, cross-reference the data sources:
- Build lookup map from overview data: Iterate overview root items and their children arrays. Each child in the overview includes
id, parentId, title, role, statusLabel, priority, depth, tags, type, childCounts, traits. BuildoverviewMap[id] = { priority, tags, type, traits, role, childCounts }. - Build child count map: Use the
childCountsobject directly from each child in the overview (no grouping needed).childRoleCounts[id] = item.childCounts. - Extract traits: For items with
traitsarrays in the overview, note them for display in the Tags column. - Build active/blocked/stalled sets: From get_context, create sets of item IDs that are active, blocked, or stalled
- Classify root items: Use the classification table below
- Group standalone items by tag: For root items classified as "Standalone item", group by their
tagsvalue (first tag if multiple). Items with no tag go into an "Uncategorized" group.
Root Item Classification
| Pattern | Classification | Rendering |
|---|---|---|
| Has non-terminal children | Active container | Full section with children table |
| All children terminal | Completed container | Done footer |
| No children, non-terminal role | Standalone item | Standalone Items table |
| No children, terminal role | Completed standalone | Done footer |
Note: Overview
childCountsreflects direct children only. Active grandchildren can exist under a terminal root. Cross-reference withget_contextresults.
Dashboard Format
Render the dashboard in this exact section order. Omit any section that has no data.
Section 1: Health Headline
## ◆ Work Summary
[One sentence assessing project health and momentum.]
**X active · Y blocked · Z stalled · W queued · V done**
Counts come from the search results grouped by role. "active" = work + review roles. "done" = terminal role.
Section 2: Attention Required
Omit this entire section if there are no blocked or stalled items.
### ⊘ Attention Required
| ID | Item | Container | Issue |
|----|------|-----------|-------|
| `short-id` | <title> | <parent title or —> | Blocked by: `<blocker-id>` <blocker-title> |
| `short-id` | <title> | <parent title or —> | Stalled: missing `<note-key>`, `<note-key>` |
For blocked items, show what is blocking them. For stalled items, show which required notes are missing. When a stalled item's missing note key matches a trait's note key (e.g., migration-assessment from trait needs-migration-review), mention the trait in the Issue column: Stalled: missing \migration-assessment` (trait: needs-migration-review)`
If there is actionable context (e.g., blocker is not in active work, or a stalled item has a guidancePointer), add a brief observation line below the table — one sentence max.
Include the short ID so the user can reference items in follow-up commands.
Section 3: Project Inventory
This is the core of the dashboard. Show every active container with its children.
For each active container (has non-terminal children), render:
#### <Container Title> `<8-char-id>`
<role-symbol> <role> · <N open> · <N done>
| ID | Title | Status | Pri | Tags | Children |
|----|-------|--------|-----|------|----------|
| `xxxxxxxx` | <child title> | ◉ work | high | feature-task ▸migration | — |
| `yyyyyyyy` | <child title> | ○ queue | med | — | 2○ 1◉ |
| `zzzzzzzz` | <child title> | ⊘ blocked | high | bug-fix ▸security | — |
✓ N completed: <comma-separated titles of terminal children>
Rendering rules for container sections:
- Sort children: ◉ active (work/review) first, then ⊘ blocked, then ○ queue, then ✓ terminal
- Non-terminal children get full table rows with all columns
- Terminal children are collapsed into the
✓ N completedline below the table. If 0 completed, omit the line. If more than 5 completed, show first 3 titles then(+N more). - The container header shows the short ID for user reference
<N open>= queue + work + review + blocked children count- Children column: If an item itself has children (detected from search results where other items have this item's ID as
parentId), show a compact role summary using the formatN○ N◉ N⊘ N✓(omit roles with zero count). If the item has no children, show—. - Tags column: show tag value or
—if none. When an item has traits, append them after the tag using a▸prefix with shortened trait names (stripneeds-prefix). Example:feature-task ▸migration-revieworbug-fix ▸security. If no tag but has traits, show▸<trait-name>only. - Priority column: show
high,med,low, or—if default/unset
If a container itself is in work/review role, prefix its header with the role symbol: #### ◉ Tech Debt \89d02e32``
Section 4: Standalone Items
Root items (depth 0) that have no children and are non-terminal. Omit section if none.
Grouping strategy — adaptive, hierarchy-first:
Items with a parentId are always shown under their container in Section 3 — hierarchy wins over tags. Standalone items (no parent) are grouped by tag in this section. This adapts to how the user organizes work:
- Hierarchy users (containers with children): most items appear in Section 3, few standalones here
- Tag users (flat items with schema tags, no containers): Section 3 is empty, this section becomes the primary view with tag-based groupings
- Mixed users: containers in Section 3, orphaned tagged items grouped here by tag
Rendering rules:
- Collect all non-terminal root items with no children
- Group them by tag value. Items with multiple tags: use the first tag. Items with no tag: group under "Uncategorized"
- If only one tag group exists (or all items are uncategorized), render as a flat table without tag subheadings
- If multiple tag groups exist, render each as a subheading with its own table
Multi-group format:
### Standalone Items
#### feature-implementation
| ID | Title | Status | Pri | Children |
|----|-------|--------|-----|----------|
| `xxxxxxxx` | <title> | ○ queue | med | — |
#### bug-fix
| ID | Title | Status | Pri | Children |
|----|-------|--------|-----|----------|
| `yyyyyyyy` | <title> | ○ queue | high | — |
#### Uncategorized
| ID | Title | Status | Pri | Children |
|----|-------|--------|-----|----------|
| `zzzzzzzz` | <title> | ○ queue | med | — |
Single-group format (all same tag or all uncategorized):
### Standalone Items
| ID | Title | Status | Pri | Tags | Children |
|----|-------|--------|-----|------|----------|
| `xxxxxxxx` | <title> | ○ queue | med | — | — |
Note: when items are grouped by tag, the Tags column is omitted from the table (the tag subheading already conveys it). When rendered as a flat table, include the Tags column.
Section 5: Recommended Next
From get_next_item results. Omit if no recommendations.
### ▸ Recommended Next
| ID | Title | Container | Pri |
|----|-------|-----------|-----|
| `xxxxxxxx` | <title> | <parent title or —> | high |
These items are queue-role, not blocked by dependencies, ranked by priority then complexity. Brief observation (one sentence) only if there's a parallelization opportunity or if all recommendations come from the same container.
Section 6: Done
Compact footer for completed work. Omit if nothing is terminal.
### ✓ Done (N total)
**Completed containers:** <title> (N children) · <title> (N children)
**Completed standalone:** <title> · <title> · (+N more if >5)
N total = count of all terminal root items (containers + standalone).
Internal: Short ID → Full UUID Mapping
Do NOT render a UUID reference table in the dashboard output. The user references items by short ID only.
Instead, retain the short→full UUID mapping as internal agent context. When the user references a short ID in a follow-up command (e.g., "start 0499a6aa"), resolve it to the full UUID silently for the MCP tool call. The search results from data collection provide all the full UUIDs needed.
Formatting Conventions
Status symbols: ✓ terminal · ◉ work/review · ⊘ blocked/stalled · ○ queue
Short IDs: First 8 characters of the UUID, rendered in backticks: `af21ed9a`
Use — for empty/null values, not 0 or blank.
Priority abbreviations: high, med, low in tables.
Observations: Write them sparingly — only when there is a genuine anomaly, bottleneck, or actionable insight. A healthy project needs zero observations. Do not fill space with "work is progressing normally" — the data speaks for itself.
Empty containers: Root items where ALL childCounts are zero and role is non-terminal. If any exist, note them at the end of the inventory section: **Empty (no items):** <title>, <title>
Trait abbreviations: Strip needs- prefix for display: needs-migration-review → ▸migration-review
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