effort-create

Effort Create

Promotes an idea or task into a tracked effort with proper structure.

Arguments

$ARGUMENTS is a description of the work. May be brief ("migrate to Postgres 16") or detailed.

Instructions

1. Extract from arguments or ask:

   • Title (required) — concise, descriptive
   • Status — default idea unless the user is actively working on it (active)
   • Linear link — if they mention a ticket, extract the URL
   • Slug — derive from title if it's memorable, otherwise omit (just the timestamp ID)

2. Create the effort. Three creation paths, tried in order:

   Path A — TaskNotes via Obsidian (preferred when user is at their desk): The TaskNotes plugin creates efforts with full frontmatter, proper datetime IDs, and the body template. Use when Obsidian is open and the user can interact with the UI.

   obsidian_command({ id: "tasknotes:create-new-task" })
   

   TaskNotes opens a modal for the title. After the user confirms, find the new file via obsidian_read or query_notes and patch in any extra fields (status, linear, etc.) via update_frontmatter.

   Path B — Obsidian CLI (headless, Obsidian running): When the agent is running without user interaction but Obsidian is available. The create_effort MCP tool handles this automatically — it creates a file in efforts/, Templater applies the folder template, then the tool patches in title and custom fields.

   create_effort({
     title: "...",
     status: "idea",
     slug: "optional-slug",
     linear: "https://linear.app/..."
   })
   

   Path C — Direct creation (no Obsidian): In tests, CI, Cowork, or when Obsidian isn't running. The create_effort tool falls back to creating the file directly with mcpvault, producing compatible frontmatter and body structure.

   The create_effort tool automatically selects Path B or C. Only use Path A when you know the user is actively at Obsidian and would benefit from the TaskNotes UI (e.g., they want to set a due date, use the calendar picker, etc.).

3. Add to today's daily note — capture a reference to the new effort:

   capture({
     text: "[[<effort-path>|<title>]]",
     is_task: false
   })
   

4. Report what was created:

   Created effort: Migrate to Postgres 16 (efforts/20260322010553-migrate-postgres.md) Status: idea · Review in 14 days Added to today's ## Capture

5. Offer next steps:

   • "Want to break this down?" → /effort-decompose
   • "Want to flesh out the goal and approach?" → /refine
   • "Want to start working on it now?" → suggest changing status to active

From conversation context

If the user has been discussing something complex and says "track this" or "make this an effort", synthesize the conversation into:

• A clear title
• A ## Goal section summarizing the intent
• ## Links with any URLs or references from the conversation
• ## Next Steps if obvious actions were discussed

Write these to the effort file via patch_note after creation.