Task Specification Format

Compact YAML format for parallel task files in parallel/TS-XXXX-slug/tasks/.

Complete Task Example

---
id: task-001
component: users
wave: 1
deps: []
blocks: [task-004, task-005]
agent: python-experts:django-expert
tech_spec: TS-0042
contracts: [contracts/types.py, contracts/api-schema.yaml]
---
# task-001: User Management

## Scope
CREATE: apps/users/{models,views,serializers,urls}.py, apps/users/tests/*.py
MODIFY: config/urls.py
BOUNDARY: apps/orders/*, apps/products/*, apps/*/migrations/*

## Requirements
- User model with email authentication
- UserSerializer with explicit fields
- UserViewSet (list, retrieve, create, update)
- Email uniqueness validation

## Checklist
- [ ] Model matches UserDTO in contracts/types.py
- [ ] API matches /api/users/* in contracts/api-schema.yaml
- [ ] pytest apps/users/ passes
- [ ] mypy apps/users/ passes
- [ ] ruff check apps/users/ passes
- [ ] No files modified outside scope

YAML Frontmatter Fields

Scope Section Format

Use compact notation with three directives:

CREATE

Files to create (use glob patterns):

CREATE: apps/users/{models,views,serializers,urls}.py, apps/users/tests/*.py

MODIFY

Existing files to modify:

MODIFY: config/urls.py, config/settings.py

BOUNDARY

Files NOT to touch (owned by other tasks):

BOUNDARY: apps/orders/*, apps/products/*, apps/*/migrations/*

Task Naming Convention

task-{number}-{component}.md

Examples:
- task-001-users.md
- task-002-products.md
- task-003-orders.md
- task-004-api.md
- task-005-integration.md

Agent Type Selection

Contract References

Contracts are in the same parallel directory:

parallel/TS-0042-slug/
  contracts/
    types.py        # Reference as: contracts/types.py
    api-schema.yaml # Reference as: contracts/api-schema.yaml
  tasks/
    task-001-users.md

Wave Dependencies

Tasks in Wave N can only depend on tasks in Waves 1 to N-1:

Wave 1: task-001, task-002 (no dependencies, run in parallel)
Wave 2: task-003 (depends on task-001, task-002)
Wave 3: task-004 (depends on task-003)

deps vs blocks

• deps: Tasks that MUST complete before this task starts
• blocks: Tasks that CANNOT start until this task completes

Both express the same relationship from different perspectives:

# task-001
blocks: [task-003]

# task-003
deps: [task-001]

Requirements Section

Clear, actionable requirements:

## Requirements
- Implement `User` model with fields: `email`, `username`, `password`, `is_active`
- Create `UserSerializer` with all User fields (hide password)
- Implement `UserViewSet` with: list, retrieve, create, update
- Add email validation and uniqueness constraint
- Test coverage: minimum 85%

Checklist Section

Verification criteria:

## Checklist
- [ ] Model matches DTO in contracts/types.py
- [ ] API matches schema in contracts/api-schema.yaml
- [ ] pytest apps/users/ passes
- [ ] mypy apps/users/ --strict passes
- [ ] Coverage >= 85%
- [ ] No files modified outside scope

Why Compact Format?

1. Token efficiency: Less tokens for agent context
2. Faster parsing: YAML frontmatter is standard
3. Clear boundaries: Scope section is scannable
4. Actionable checklist: Verification is explicit

Validation Rules

Before using tasks:

• Every task has unique id
• Every task has agent assigned
• Every task has contracts referenced
• Every task has BOUNDARY section
• No circular dependencies in deps
• Wave numbers are sequential (1, 2, 3...)
• Wave 1 tasks have deps: []

Output Format

The Output Format JSON block is not included in task files. It's a static template that the parallel-prompt-generator skill automatically adds to every generated prompt.

See the parallel-prompt-generator skill for the complete prompt template including the Output Format section.