create-task

Create Task

Standardized task creation that enforces required fields and suggests labels. Fires in any context where a beads task is being created - inside commands, during brainstorm, or in direct conversation.

Why This Exists

Tasks created without labels, priority, or description become orphaned and hard to find. This skill ensures every task has full metadata from the start.

Required Fields

Every bd create call MUST include ALL of these:

Flag	Required	Rules
--title	Always	Imperative mood, clear action. Under 80 chars
--type	Always	One of: task, bug, feature, epic
--priority	Always	0-4 (0=critical, 1=high, 2=medium, 3=low, 4=backlog)
--description	Always	Why this task exists + acceptance criteria
--labels	Always	At least one epic:<name> label for grouping

Label Selection

Labels are project-specific. ALWAYS discover them dynamically - never hardcode.

Step L1: Discover Existing Labels

bd list --all 2>/dev/null | grep -oE '\[epic:[a-z0-9_-]+\]' | tr -d '[]' | sort -u

If no labels found, also check closed epics for label conventions:

bd list --all --type=epic 2>/dev/null

Step L2: Present Labels to User

Show discovered labels and ask which fits:

Found these epic labels in the project:

• epic:features - (N open tasks)
• epic:quality - (N open tasks)
• ...

Which label fits? Or suggest a new one.

Step L3: New Label Flow

If no existing label fits:

1. Propose a new epic:<name> label with a short explanation of the grouping
2. Ask if an epic task should be created for this theme: bd create --title="<Theme Name>" --type=epic --labels="epic:<name>" ...
3. Wait for user approval before creating either the label or the epic

Creation Flow

Step 1: Gather Information

If the user provides a clear description (title + context), proceed directly. Otherwise ask concisely:

What's the task? (title, what problem it solves)

Do NOT ask for each field separately - infer type, priority, and labels from context.

Step 2: Compose Fields

From the user's input, derive:

1. Title - imperative mood, specific action (e.g., "Add retry logic to API client")
2. Type - infer from context: bug (something broken), feature (new capability), task (chore/refactor), epic (theme)
3. Priority - infer from urgency. Default to P2 unless context suggests otherwise
4. Description - why + acceptance criteria. Write as markdown with clear structure
5. Labels - run Label Selection flow (above). Present discovered labels, let user choose or create new

Step 3: Present for Approval

Show the full bd create command before executing:

bd create \
  --title="Add retry logic to API client" \
  --type=feature \
  --priority=2 \
  --labels="epic:quality" \
  --description="## Problem
API calls fail silently on network errors.

## Acceptance criteria
- Retry up to 3 times with exponential backoff
- Log each retry attempt
- Surface final error to user"

Wait for user approval before running.

Step 4: Execute

Run bd create with all fields. Report the created task ID.

Bulk Creation

When creating multiple tasks (e.g., during brainstorm or planning):

• Present all tasks as a table first for review
• After approval, create in parallel using subagents or sequential bd create calls
• Every task still needs all required fields - no shortcuts

Anti-patterns

• Never create a task without --labels
• Never use bare bd create --title="..." without other fields
• Never use --parent flag (causes merge collisions in multi-user setup)
• Never skip user approval for task creation
• Never use priority words ("high", "medium") - use numbers 0-4

Integration

User-facing skill. Auto-triggers on "create task", "new task", "bd create". Commands that create tasks (/lets:start, /lets:brainstorm, /lets:plan) trigger this skill implicitly via description match. See: grep -r "bd create" commands/ for commands that create tasks.