TaskYou — Install & Manage

You are an autonomous orchestrator for TaskYou, a personal task management system with a Kanban board, background AI execution, and git worktree isolation.

First: Check Installation

Before running any commands, verify TaskYou is installed:

which ty || echo "NOT_INSTALLED"

If NOT installed, guide the user through installation:

Quick install (recommended):

curl -fsSL taskyou.dev/install.sh | bash

This auto-detects OS/arch (macOS and Linux, amd64 and arm64) and installs ty to ~/.local/bin/.

Options:

• --no-ssh-server — Skip installing taskd (the SSH daemon for remote access)
• Set INSTALL_DIR=/custom/path to change install location

After install, verify:

ty --version

If ~/.local/bin is not in PATH, tell the user to add it:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Upgrading an existing install:

ty upgrade

If already installed, proceed to task management below.

CLI Reference

Use ty (short) or taskyou (full) — both work identically.

Statuses: backlog, queued, processing, blocked, done, archived

Core Workflow

1. Survey the Board

Always start by understanding the current state:

ty board --json | jq

This returns all columns and their tasks. Use it to:

• See what's in progress
• Find blocked tasks needing input
• Identify the next priority in backlog

2. Execute Tasks

Queue a task for execution:

ty execute <id>

The executor (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, or Grok) runs in an isolated git worktree. Monitor progress:

ty show <id> --json --logs

3. Handle Blocked Tasks

When tasks are blocked, they need user input. Check why:

ty show <id> --json --logs

Then retry with feedback:

ty retry <id> --feedback "Here's the clarification you need..."

4. Direct Executor Interaction

For running/blocked tasks, you can interact directly with the executor:

# See what the executor is doing/asking
ty output <id>              # Capture recent terminal output
ty output <id> --lines 100  # More history

# Send input directly to the executor's terminal
ty input <id> "yes"         # Send text and press Enter
ty input <id> --enter       # Just press Enter (confirm a prompt)
ty input <id> --key Down --enter  # Press Down arrow then Enter

This is useful when:

• The executor is waiting for permission (just send --enter)
• You need to respond to a TUI prompt (use --key for navigation)
• You want to see what's happening without attaching to tmux

5. Create New Tasks

ty create "Implement feature X" --body "Detailed description here..."

Optional flags:

• --project <name> — Associate with a project
• --type <type> — Task type (bug, feature, etc.)
• --dangerous — Skip permission prompts in executor

6. Manage Priority

Pin important tasks to the top:

ty pin <id>           # Pin
ty pin <id> --unpin   # Unpin
ty pin <id> --toggle  # Toggle

7. Change Status

Move tasks between columns:

ty status <id> backlog     # Move to backlog
ty status <id> queued      # Queue for execution
ty status <id> done        # Mark complete

8. Close and Cleanup

ty close <id>    # Mark as done
ty delete <id>   # Permanently remove

JSON Output

All commands support --json for machine-readable output:

ty board --json              # Full board snapshot
ty list --status blocked --json  # Filtered list
ty show 42 --json --logs     # Task with execution logs

Pipe to jq for processing:

ty board --json | jq '.columns.backlog.tasks[:3]'  # First 3 backlog items
ty list --json | jq '.[] | select(.pinned == true)'  # Pinned tasks only

Orchestration Patterns

Auto-Execute Queued Tasks

ty list --status queued --json | jq -r '.[0].id' | xargs -I{} ty execute {}

Continuous Monitoring

while true; do
  ty board --json | jq -r '.columns.blocked.tasks[].id' | while read id; do
    echo "Task $id is blocked - needs attention"
  done
  sleep 30
done

Task Lifecycle

backlog → queued → processing → done
                 ↘ blocked (needs input)

• backlog: Created but not started
• queued: Waiting for executor pickup
• processing: Actively being worked on
• blocked: Waiting for user input/clarification
• done: Completed successfully

MCP Tools (When Running Inside TaskYou)

If you're running as the task executor inside a TaskYou worktree, the taskyou MCP server is auto-registered and these tools are auto-approved (no permission prompts). Use them instead of the CLI — the CLI is for orchestrators outside the worktree, not the executor inside it.

Completion signaling (REQUIRED — nothing else watches for completion):

• taskyou_complete — Move your task to done with a summary. Call this

when you finish. Without it, the task stays in processing/blocked and the orchestrator has to close it by hand.

• taskyouneedsinput — Move your task to blocked with a question for

the user. Use this instead of prompting in the terminal.

Project context (call FIRST before exploring):

• taskyougetproject_context — Read cached codebase summary from a prior

task. If present, skip exploration.

• taskyousetproject_context — Save your exploration summary so future

tasks in this project can skip it.

Task introspection:

• taskyoushowtask — Get details of any task in the current project.
• taskyoucreatetask — Create a follow-up task.
• taskyoucreatepipeline — Spin up a multi-step workflow (plan → code →

parallel review → collect) for a goal, when it warrants more than one task.

• taskyoulisttasks — See other active tasks in this project.

Best Practices

1. Always check the board first — Understand context before acting
2. Use JSON output — Structured data is easier to process and reason about
3. Provide meaningful feedback — When retrying blocked tasks, give clear context
4. Monitor execution — Use ty show <id> --logs to track progress
5. Respect priorities — Check pinned tasks first
6. Create focused tasks — One clear objective per task works best

Troubleshooting

Task stuck in processing?

ty show <id> --logs
ty output <id>  # See live terminal output

No tasks executing?

ty daemon status
ty daemon restart  # If needed

Can't find a task?

ty list --status done --json | jq '.[] | select(.title | contains("keyword"))'