get-tasks
Get Tasks
Overview
get-tasks converts an approved PRD into an executable set of tasks. Each task is written to its own file, sized to fit a single focused session, ordered by dependency, and shipped with acceptance criteria, validation steps, a blocking list, and a rollback procedure.
The reason this exists as its own skill: a PRD is not a plan. A PRD states what the system does and why. It says nothing about the order of work, what can be built in parallel, where the risky parts are, or how to prove a slice is done. Turning a PRD straight into code produces either a heroic single-pass change or an arbitrary order that breaks halfway.
get-tasks supplies the missing layer. It reads the PRD, maps the real dependency structure, cuts the work into vertical slices, and writes each slice as a standalone artifact that an agent (or a human) can pick up without re-reading the whole PRD.
This skill draws from three sources:
- Dependency-first decomposition and vertical slicing — build a dependency graph, slice vertically rather than horizontally, size each task, and place checkpoints. This is what makes the order correct.
- Validation-driven execution — every task declares how it will be verified across multiple validation types, not just "tests pass", and carries a replan procedure for when a step fails.
- Blocking edges and tracer bullets — each task states explicitly what blocks it, so any task whose blockers are done can start immediately.
The output is a directory of task files: tasks/<name>/task-01.md, task-02.md, and so on, numbered in dependency order, plus tasks/<name>/plan.md indexing them. Blocker tasks get the low numbers.