Navigator Task Manager

VerifiedCaution

Creates and manages task documentation - implementation plans that capture what was built, how, and why. Perfect for documenting new features or archiving completed work.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
DocumentationBeginner
3/1/2026
Claude Code
#task-management#implementation-plans#project-documentation#changelog#workflow

Recommended for

Automated summary

Creates and archives Navigator task documents — structured implementation plans written to .agent/tasks/ — either ahead of a feature or retrospectively from the conversation.

Strengths

  • Comprehensive reusable template: context, goals, phases, technical decisions, verification commands and a completion checklist
  • Automatically derives the next task ID from the prefix in .agent/.nav-config.json and existing task files
  • Two clear modes: a forward-looking plan when starting a feature, or a retrospective doc reconstructed from the last 30-50 messages
  • Explicit invoke/do-not-invoke rules that cut down on accidental triggering

Limitations

  • Assumes an existing Navigator layout (.agent/tasks/, .nav-config.json) and will not work as-is in other repos
  • Archive quality depends entirely on the relevant conversation still being in context
  • Scoped to writing Markdown files in .agent/tasks/, with no sync to external project-management tools
When to use it

Use it when kicking off a feature and needing an implementation plan, or when finishing work and wanting a durable written record.

When not to use it

Do not use it to read or query existing tasks, write SOPs, or update system documentation — other skills cover those.

Security analysis

Caution
Quality score78/100

The skill only reads config, lists task files, and writes/edits Markdown documentation under `.agent/tasks/`. Bash usage is limited to directory listing and running project test/build commands, all legitimate for a documentation helper. There are no destructive commands, no network exfiltration, no secret handling, and no obfuscated payloads, so risk is low but non-trivial because it may execute project commands via Bash.

Findings
  • •Declares Bash and instructs filesystem listing (`ls .agent/tasks/*.md`) and reads of `.agent/.nav-config.json`
  • •References running build/test/type-check commands as part of 'Verify' sections
How this analysis is made

Examples

Plan a new feature
Create a task doc for the OAuth implementation — we're going to add Google and GitHub providers.
Archive finished work
Document this notification feature I just built, it's done.
Archive with explicit ID
Archive TASK-07 — the rate limiter is finished and merged.

name: nav-task description: Manage Navigator task documentation - create implementation plans, archive completed tasks, update task index. Use when user starts new feature, completes work, or says "document this feature". allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Bash version: 1.0.0

Navigator Task Manager Skill

Create and manage task documentation - implementation plans that capture what was built, how, and why.

When to Invoke

Invoke this skill when the user:

  • Says "document this feature", "archive this task"
  • Says "create task doc for...", "document what I built"
  • Completes a feature and mentions "done", "finished", "complete"
  • Starts new feature and says "create implementation plan"

DO NOT invoke if:

  • User is asking about existing tasks (use Read, not creation)
  • Creating SOPs (that's nav-sop skill)
  • Updating system docs (different skill)

Execution Steps

Step 1: Determine Task ID

If user provided task ID (e.g., "TASK-01", "GH-123"):

  • Use their ID directly

If no ID provided:

  • Read .agent/.nav-config.json for task_prefix
  • Check existing tasks: ls .agent/tasks/*.md
  • Generate next number: {prefix}-{next-number}
  • Example: Last task is TASK-05, create TASK-06

Step 2: Determine Action (Create vs Archive)

Creating new task (starting feature):

User: "Create task doc for OAuth implementation"
→ Action: CREATE
→ Generate empty implementation plan template

Archiving completed task (feature done):

User: "Document this OAuth feature I just built"
→ Action: ARCHIVE
→ Generate implementation plan from conversation

Step 3A: Create New Task (If Starting Feature)

Generate task document from template:

# TASK-{XX}: {Feature Name}

**Status**: 🚧 In Progress
**Created**: {YYYY-MM-DD}
**Assignee**: {from PM tool or "Manual"}

---

## Context

**Problem**:
[What problem does this solve?]

**Goal**:
[What are we building?]

**Success Criteria**:
- [ ] [Specific measurable outcome]
- [ ] [Another outcome]

---

## Implementation Plan

### Phase 1: {Name}
**Goal**: [What this phase accomplishes]

**Tasks**:
- [ ] [Specific task]
- [ ] [Another task]

**Files**:
- `path/to/file.ts` - [Purpose]

### Phase 2: {Name}
...

---

## Technical Decisions

| Decision | Options Considered | Chosen | Reasoning |
|----------|-------------------|--------|-----------|
| [What] | [Option A, B, C] | [Chosen] | [Why] |

---

## Dependencies

**Requires**:
- [ ] {prerequisite task or setup}

**Blocks**:
- [ ] {tasks waiting on this}

---

## Verify

Run these commands to validate the implementation:

```bash
# Run tests
[test command for this feature]

# Type check
[type check command]

# Build
[build command]

Done

Observable outcomes that prove completion:

  • [ ] [Specific file/API exists and exports expected interface]
  • [ ] [Tests pass - specify count or coverage target]
  • [ ] [Build succeeds without errors]
  • [ ] [User-observable behavior works as specified]

Notes

[Any additional context, links, references]


Completion Checklist

Before marking complete:

  • [ ] Implementation finished
  • [ ] Tests written and passing
  • [ ] Documentation updated
  • [ ] Code reviewed (if team)
  • [ ] Deployed/merged

Last Updated: {YYYY-MM-DD}


Save to: `.agent/tasks/TASK-{XX}-{slug}.md`

### Step 3B: Archive Completed Task (If Feature Done)

Generate task document from conversation:

1. **Analyze conversation** (last 30-50 messages):
   - What was built?
   - How was it implemented?
   - What decisions were made?
   - What files were modified?

2. **Generate implementation plan**:

```markdown
# TASK-{XX}: {Feature Name}

**Status**: ✅ Completed
**Created**: {YYYY-MM-DD}
**Completed**: {YYYY-MM-DD}

---

## What Was Built

[1-2 paragraph summary of the feature]

---

## Implementation

### Phase 1: {Actual phase completed}
**Completed**: {Date}

**Changes**:
- Created `src/auth/oauth.ts` - OAuth provider integration
- Modified `src/routes/auth.ts` - Added login/logout endpoints
- Updated `src/config/passport.ts` - Passport configuration

**Key Code**:
```typescript
// Example of key implementation
export const oauthLogin = async (req, res) => {
  // Implementation details
};

Phase 2: {Next phase}

...


Technical Decisions

| Decision | Options | Chosen | Reasoning | |----------|---------|--------|-----------| | Auth library | next-auth, passport.js, auth0 | passport.js | Better control over OAuth flow, smaller bundle | | Token storage | localStorage, cookies, sessionStorage | httpOnly cookies | XSS protection, automatic transmission | | Session store | memory, Redis, PostgreSQL | Redis | Fast, scalable, separate from DB |


Files Modified

  • src/auth/oauth.ts (created) - OAuth integration
  • src/routes/auth.ts (modified) - Added auth endpoints
  • src/config/passport.ts (created) - Passport setup
  • tests/auth.test.ts (created) - Auth tests
  • README.md (updated) - OAuth setup instructions

Challenges & Solutions

Challenge: OAuth callback URL mismatch

  • Problem: Redirects failed in production
  • Solution: Added environment-specific callback URLs
  • Commit: abc1234

Challenge: Session persistence across restarts

  • Problem: Users logged out on server restart
  • Solution: Redis session store
  • Commit: def5678

Testing

  • ✅ Unit tests: src/auth/*.test.ts (15 tests, 100% coverage)
  • ✅ Integration tests: OAuth flow end-to-end
  • ✅ Manual testing: Tested with Google, GitHub providers

Documentation

  • ✅ README updated with OAuth setup instructions
  • ✅ Environment variables documented in .env.example
  • ✅ API endpoints documented in docs/api.md

Verify

Commands executed to validate:

# Actual commands run during verification
npm test src/auth
npm run type-check
npm run build

Results: All passed ✅


Done

Outcomes confirmed:

  • [x] src/auth/oauth.ts exports OAuth provider integration
  • [x] All tests pass (15 tests, 100% coverage)
  • [x] Build succeeds without errors
  • [x] OAuth login/logout flows work correctly

Related

SOPs Created:

  • .agent/sops/integrations/oauth-setup.md

System Docs Updated:

  • .agent/system/project-architecture.md (added auth section)

Completed: {YYYY-MM-DD} Implementation Time: {X hours/days}


Save to: `.agent/tasks/TASK-{XX}-{slug}.md`

### Step 3.5: Verify Interpretation (ToM Checkpoint - Archive Mode Only) [EXECUTE]

**IMPORTANT**: This step MUST be executed when archiving tasks (not creating new ones).

**Before committing archive documentation, confirm interpretation with user**.

**Display verification** (only for ARCHIVE action):

I extracted this from our session: ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

What was built:

  • {FEATURE_SUMMARY}

Key decisions captured:

  • {DECISION_1}: {REASONING_1}
  • {DECISION_2}: {REASONING_2}

Files changed: {COUNT} total

  • {FILE_1} ({ACTION}: {PURPOSE})
  • {FILE_2} ({ACTION}: {PURPOSE})

Challenges solved:

  • {CHALLENGE_1}: {SOLUTION_1} ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Corrections needed? [Enter to proceed / type corrections]


**Always verify for ARCHIVE** because:
- Extracting from conversation is inference-based
- User may have made decisions not explicitly stated
- Some files may have been modified outside conversation
- Ensures accurate historical record

**Skip verification for CREATE** because:
- Template is mostly empty
- User fills in details themselves
- No inference risk

### Step 4: Update Navigator Index

Edit `.agent/DEVELOPMENT-README.md` to add task to index:

```markdown
## Active Tasks

- **TASK-{XX}**: {Feature Name} (Status: In Progress/Completed)
  - File: `.agent/tasks/TASK-{XX}-{slug}.md`
  - Started: {Date}
  - [Completed: {Date}]

Keep index organized (active tasks first, completed below).

Step 4.5: Sync to Knowledge Graph (v6.0.0+)

If knowledge graph exists, sync task to graph:

if [ -f ".agent/knowledge/graph.json" ]; then
  python3 skills/nav-graph/functions/task_to_graph.py \
    --action add \
    --task-path ".agent/tasks/TASK-{XX}-{slug}.md" \
    --graph-path .agent/knowledge/graph.json
fi

What this does:

  • Extracts concepts from task content (auth, api, testing, etc.)
  • Adds task node to graph with status and concepts
  • Creates implements edges from task to concepts
  • For completed tasks: Extracts Technical Decisions as decision memories

Output:

Added task: TASK-XX
Title: {Feature Name}
Status: completed
Concepts: auth, api, testing
Decisions extracted: 2

This makes the task queryable via "What do we know about auth?" and preserves architectural decisions as persistent memories.

Step 5: Update PM Tool (If Configured)

If PM tool is Linear:

create_comment({
  issueId: "TASK-XX",
  body: "📚 Implementation plan documented: .agent/tasks/TASK-XX-feature.md"
})

If PM tool is GitHub:

gh issue comment {ISSUE-NUMBER} -b "📚 Implementation plan: .agent/tasks/TASK-XX-feature.md"

If PM tool is none: Skip PM update.

Step 6: Confirm Success

Show completion message:

✅ Task documentation created!

Task: TASK-{XX} - {Feature Name}
File: .agent/tasks/TASK-{XX}-{slug}.md
Size: {X} KB (~{Y} tokens)

📋 Contains:
- Implementation phases
- Technical decisions
- Files modified
- [If archived: Challenges & solutions]
- [If archived: Testing & documentation]

🔗 Navigator index updated
[If PM tool: PM tool comment added]

To reference later:
Read .agent/tasks/TASK-{XX}-{slug}.md

Task Document Template Structure

For New Tasks (Planning)

  1. Context (problem/goal)
  2. Implementation plan (phases)
  3. Technical decisions (to be made)
  4. Dependencies
  5. Completion checklist

For Completed Tasks (Archive)

  1. What was built (summary)
  2. Implementation (actual phases)
  3. Technical decisions (what was chosen)
  4. Files modified
  5. Challenges & solutions
  6. Testing & documentation

Common Use Cases

Starting New Feature

User: "Create task doc for payments integration"
→ Generates TASK-07-payments.md
→ Empty template for planning
→ User fills in as they work

Completing Feature

User: "Document the auth feature I just finished"
→ Analyzes conversation
→ Generates TASK-06-auth.md
→ Complete implementation record
→ Archives for future reference

Mid-Feature Update

User: "Update TASK-05 with OAuth decision"
→ Reads existing TASK-05-auth.md
→ Adds to Technical Decisions section
→ Preserves rest of document

Error Handling

Navigator not initialized:

❌ .agent/tasks/ directory not found

Run /nav:init to set up Navigator structure first.

Task ID already exists (for creation):

⚠️  TASK-{XX} already exists

Options:
1. Read existing task
2. Use different ID
3. Archive/overwrite existing

Your choice [1-3]:

Insufficient context to archive:

⚠️  Not enough conversation context to generate implementation plan

Consider:
- Provide more details about what was built
- Manually create task doc
- Skip archiving

Continue with template? [y/N]:

Success Criteria

Task documentation is successful when:

  • [ ] Task file created in .agent/tasks/
  • [ ] Filename follows convention: TASK-{XX}-{slug}.md
  • [ ] Contains all required sections
  • [ ] Navigator index updated
  • [ ] PM tool updated (if configured)
  • [ ] User can reference task later

Scripts

generate_task.py: Create task documentation from conversation

  • Input: Conversation history, task ID
  • Output: Formatted task markdown

update_index.py: Update DEVELOPMENT-README.md task index

  • Input: New task info
  • Output: Updated index

Best Practices

Good task slugs:

  • oauth-implementation (descriptive)
  • stripe-payment-flow (clear purpose)
  • user-profile-page (specific feature)

Bad task slugs:

  • feature (too vague)
  • fix (not descriptive)
  • task1 (meaningless)

When to create task docs:

  • ✅ Starting major feature (> 1 day work)
  • ✅ Completing any feature (archive)
  • ✅ Complex implementation (capture decisions)
  • ❌ Tiny bug fixes (use SOPs instead)
  • ❌ Exploratory work (wait until direction clear)

Notes

Task docs are living documents:

  • Created when starting feature (template)
  • Updated during implementation (decisions)
  • Finalized when complete (archive)

They serve as:

  • Planning tool (before implementation)
  • Progress tracker (during implementation)
  • Historical record (after completion)
  • Knowledge base (for team/future)

This skill provides same functionality as /nav:doc feature command but with natural language invocation.

From the file to a first result

The download contains exactly the content displayed on this page. This copy may differ from the latest version in the source repository.

View the source and supporting files

This download contains SKILL.md only. Any scripts, references, templates and dependencies are not included. Get the required files from the source, preserving their directory structure, before continuing.

1. Download the file

Download SKILL.md

From the root of a test project, save the file as .skill-downloads/navigator-task-manager-mm78nmwf/SKILL.md, or use the command below. This folder is for inspecting the skill before installation.

Command for macOS/Linux or WSL: requires a POSIX shell and curl. On Windows without WSL, use the download button and create the folder manually.

mkdir -p '.skill-downloads/navigator-task-manager-mm78nmwf' && curl --fail --show-error --location 'https://skills-guides.com/api/skills/navigator-task-manager-mm78nmwf/download' --output '.skill-downloads/navigator-task-manager-mm78nmwf/SKILL.md.part' && mv '.skill-downloads/navigator-task-manager-mm78nmwf/SKILL.md.part' '.skill-downloads/navigator-task-manager-mm78nmwf/SKILL.md'

2. Check prerequisites

Read SKILL.md before using it. If it references scripts or external services, inspect them and prepare the required access in your test environment.

Tools declared by the author (check availability in your agent): Read, Write, Edit, Bash

No recognized prerequisites section in this file. This does not mean it is self-contained: libraries, tools and access requirements may be mentioned elsewhere in the content or source repository.

The platforms on this page are catalog indications. The paths below follow tool documentation; they do not prove this skill has been run in those tools. No minimum tool version is confirmed for this listing.

3. Load the skill

After inspection, copy the complete folder into your project using one of the commands below, then open a new tool session. The command stops if a folder with the same name already exists: compare the files before replacing it.

Claude Code
test -f '.skill-downloads/navigator-task-manager-mm78nmwf/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/navigator-task-manager-mm78nmwf/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.claude/skills' && test ! -e '.claude/skills/nav-task' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/navigator-task-manager-mm78nmwf' '.claude/skills/nav-task'

OpenSkills

OpenSkills must already be installed. The local install/read procedure is checked with OpenSkills 1.5.0, which requires Node.js ≥ 20.6.0. Catalog slugs are not resolved automatically.

Official OpenSkills installation
openskills install './.skill-downloads/navigator-task-manager-mm78nmwf'

openskills read 'navigator-task-manager-mm78nmwf'

Reading should display the installed file content and its base directory. It does not run the skill or install its dependencies.

For an agent that reads AGENTS.md, then sync the index. This command changes AGENTS.md: review the diff before using it.

openskills sync

Manual method or another tool: attach SKILL.md to a conversation, or open it in an agent that can read files. Include any required supporting resources. No universal folder is recognized by every tool.

4. Try a first task

Use a short, synthetic input: an API endpoint, a small document or an interface brief. In a new conversation, attach the file or give the agent its path, then adapt this request:

Read .skill-downloads/navigator-task-manager-mm78nmwf/SKILL.md and apply its instructions to this example: [describe a test input]. Identify any missing files, dependencies or access. Produce the result requested by the skill without inventing data or running unreviewed scripts.

Expected result: output matching the skill instructions, or a precise list of missing prerequisites. A read confirmation alone does not validate a first use. If an external resource is unavailable, that path remains untested.

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