tasks
The tasks extension provides a complete task management system with two components:
Task Board Feature
Section titled “Task Board Feature”A full task board built into the TUI. Tasks have three states:
pending, in-progress, and completed, with bidirectional dependency
tracking (blocks/blockedBy). Blocked tasks automatically
become ready when their dependencies complete.
Tasks persist across sessions via the filesystem. Comments provide handoff context between sessions or agents. Team-based sharing lets multiple agents coordinate through a shared task board with file-system watching for real-time updates.
Toggle visibility: ctrl+shift+t
Manual management: /tasks command
manage_tasks Tool
Section titled “manage_tasks Tool”A separate LLM-callable tool that enables the AI to create, update, complete, and organize tasks programmatically. This tool is what allows the assistant to break down complex requests into structured task lists and track progress automatically.
The tool and the UI feature work together — tasks created by
the AI via manage_tasks appear in the task board, and manual
task operations update what the AI can see.
Task listings now show both list index and stable task id
(1. Subject (id:7)) so completion calls can target the right item
after reordering/deletions. Completion handling is also stricter:
invalid indices are reported, blocked tasks are skipped with reasons,
and only explicit completion markers auto-complete tasks.
Responsive layout
Section titled “Responsive layout”The task widget adapts to terminal width:
- Wide terminals (120+ columns), side-by-side layout. Tasks on the left, running agents and background tasks on the right, separated by a vertical rule. The right column is bottom-aligned so agents appear next to the most recent tasks.
- Narrow terminals (under 120 columns), stacked layout. Tasks first, then agents, then background tasks, each separated by a spacer line. All content truncates to fit the available width.
Both layouts cap visible tasks at 10 with a ”… and N more” overflow indicator. Task titles, agent task previews, and background command strings all truncate independently based on available column width.
Relationships with other extensions
Section titled “Relationships with other extensions”The tasks widget is the central dashboard, it doesn’t just show tasks, it unifies the display of several independent features into one responsive view.
When subagents are running (foreground or background), the tasks
widget shows them alongside the task list. Each agent gets a
colored @name with a spinner, its assigned task preview, and
a live activity line showing what tool the agent is currently
executing. In-progress tasks display (@agent-name) attribution
when an agent claims ownership.
In the status bar, a separate agent bar appears:
@main @alice @bob · 2 teammates, with each name colored
to match the agent’s identity in the task widget.
Running background bash commands appear in the same widget, below the agent section. Each shows the truncated command string and elapsed duration. The widget caps at 5 visible background tasks with an overflow indicator.
The footer’s (sub) indicator shows the active subagent count.
Combined with the agent bar from the tasks extension, you get
two layers of agent visibility: the footer for a glance count,
the widget for full detail.
Combined display
Section titled “Combined display”When all three features are active simultaneously, tasks with dependencies, multiple agents with live activity, and background commands, the widget composes them into a unified view:
Wide (120+ cols):
Tasks (2/5) │ 3 agents launched├─ ◐ Writing unit tests (@alice) │ ├─ ⠋ @alice (Foreground) · 12s├─ ◐ Refactoring auth (@bob) │ │ Writing tests for auth module├─ ☐ Update documentation │ ├─ ⠋ @bob (Background) · 8s│ └─ blocked by @alice, @bob │ │ Refactoring auth middleware└─ ✓ Explore codebase │ └─ ⠋ @carol (Background) · 3s │ Running type checker │ │ Background Tasks (1) │ └─ ● npm run test:watch (45s)Narrow (under 120 cols):
Tasks (2/5)├─ ◐ Writing unit tests (@alice)├─ ◐ Refactoring auth (@bob)├─ ☐ Update documentation│ └─ blocked by @alice, @bob└─ ✓ Explore codebase
3 agents launched├─ ⠋ @alice (Foreground) · 12s│ Writing tests for auth module├─ ⠋ @bob (Background) · 8s│ Refactoring auth middleware└─ ⠋ @carol (Background) · 3s Running type checker
Background Tasks (1)└─ ● npm run test:watch (45s)The layout decision is automatic, no configuration needed. Everything adapts to whatever terminal width you have.