Task Analyzer

Provides metacognitive task analysis and skill selection guidance.

Skills Index

See [skills-index.yaml](references/skills-index.yaml) for available skills metadata.

Task Analysis Process

1. Understand Task Essence

Identify the fundamental purpose beyond surface-level work:

Key Questions:

• What problem are we really solving?
• What is the expected outcome?
• What could go wrong if we approach this superficially?

2. Estimate Structural Scale

Classify decision burden from the intended outcomes and responsibility boundaries. File count is supporting evidence only.

A cross-layer implementation can remain Medium when it serves one coherent outcome. A decision point passing both documentation-criteria ADR filters raises the scale to Medium at minimum. Record the evidence that established the outcome and boundary classification in scaleRationale.

Scale affects skill priority:

• Larger scale → process/documentation skills more important
• Smaller scale → implementation skills more focused

3. Identify Task Type

When multiple types apply, return the primary type that owns the requested outcome and list the remaining values in secondaryTypes.

4. Tag-Based Skill Matching

Extract relevant tags from task description and match against skills-index.yaml:

Task: "Implement user authentication with tests"
Extracted tags: [implementation, testing, security]
Matched skills:
  - coding-standards (implementation, security)
  - typescript-testing (testing)
  - typescript-rules (implementation)

5. Implicit Relationships

Consider hidden dependencies:

Output Format

Return structured analysis with skill metadata from skills-index.yaml:

taskAnalysis:
  essence: <string>  # Fundamental purpose identified
  type: <implementation|fix|refactoring|design|quality|documentation|investigation|migration|operations|security|skill>
  secondaryTypes: [<task-type>, ...]
  scale: <small|medium|large>
  estimatedFiles: <number or unknown>  # Supporting evidence only
  scaleRationale:
    decidingAxis: <outcomes|responsibility-boundaries|durable-choice>
    evidence: <string>
  tags: [<string>, ...]  # Extracted from task description

selectedSkills:
  - skill: <skill-name>  # From skills-index.yaml
    priority: <high|medium|low>
    reason: <string>  # Why this skill was selected
    # Pass through metadata from skills-index.yaml
    tags: [...]
    typical-use: <string>
    size: <small|medium|large>
    sections: [...]  # All sections from yaml, unfiltered

Note: Section selection (choosing which sections are relevant) is done separately after reading the actual SKILL.md files.

Process Gates

1. Intent gate: Proceed to scale estimation when essence, primary type, and any secondaryTypes are recorded. If the requested outcome is ambiguous, record the exact outcome decision required.
2. Scale gate: Proceed to skill matching when the outcome and responsibility-boundary evidence is sufficient for Structural Scale and scaleRationale names the deciding axis.
3. Selection gate: Finalize when every selected skill exists in skills-index.yaml, has a reason tied to the task, and its metadata is copied without invention.

When an unknown can change the outcome boundary, ADR qualification, or required workflow, request the exact repository evidence or user decision needed. An unknown file count alone does not block Structural Scale judgment.

Skill Selection Priority

1. Essential - Directly related to task type
2. Quality - Testing and quality assurance
3. Process - Workflow and documentation
4. Supplementary - Additional constraints or evidence directly tied to the task

Metacognitive Question Design

Generate only questions whose answers can change intent classification, scale, selected skills, a hard constraint, or verification. Return no question when repository evidence already resolves those decisions. For every question, record the decision it controls.

Warning Patterns

Detect and flag these patterns: