triage-tasks

Triage Tasks — Surface and Batch-Update Open Vault Tasks

Runs interactively: fetch open tasks, show them numbered with completion hints, wait for user decisions, apply updates.

Step 1: Determine Scope

Detect the current project from CLAUDE.md:

Read("CLAUDE.md")  // look for: # PKM: <path>

Extract the vault project path from a line matching /^#\s+PKM:\s*(.+)$/m (e.g., 01-Projects/Obsidian-MCP).

Scope (check skill args first, then default):

• Current project (default): use the detected project folder
• All (if args contain "all" or no project detected and user chooses all): omit folder from queries

If CLAUDE.md has no # PKM: line and no scope was specified, ask:

"No project found in CLAUDE.md. Should I triage tasks across all projects, or a specific folder?"

Step 2: Fetch Open Tasks

vault_query({ type: "task", status: "pending", folder: "<project>", sort_by: "priority", sort_order: "desc" })
vault_query({ type: "task", status: "active",  folder: "<project>", sort_by: "priority", sort_order: "desc" })

Omit folder for all-projects scope. If both return empty, report "No open tasks found — all clear!" and stop.

Combine: active tasks first (priority-sorted), then pending (priority-sorted). Assign sequential numbers 1–N.

Step 3: Gather Completion Hints

Collect lightweight signals in two calls — not one call per task.

Activity log (check if any task was recently touched):

vault_activity({ since: "<date 30 days ago as YYYY-MM-DD>", limit: 100 })

Git log (look for commits related to task work):

Bash: git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree 2>/dev/null && git log --oneline --since="30 days ago" | head -50

If git rev-parse fails (not a git repo), skip git hints silently — don't surface an error to the user.

For each task, derive a hint from these results:

• Task path appears in the activity log with a write tool (vault_update_frontmatter, vault_edit, vault_append): mark "recently updated"
• Any word from the task's filename (≥ 4 chars, case-insensitive, split on -) appears in a commit message: mark "⚡ git commits"
• Neither: no hint (omit hint entirely)

Step 4: Present Numbered List

Format the list clearly, grouping active before pending:

### Open Tasks — 01-Projects/Obsidian-MCP (5 tasks)

**Active:**
1. [urgent] implement-semantic-caching  ⚡ git commits
   Implement caching layer for OpenAI embedding calls

**Pending:**
2. [high] add-triage-tasks-command
   Add /triage-tasks skill to vault-pkm plugin
3. [normal] project-init-update-command
   Add init --update subcommand for hook file updates
4. [normal] support-claude-ai-hosted-sessions
   Research making vault-pkm work with claude.ai sessions
5. [normal] rename-github-repo  ⚡ git commits
   Rename GitHub repo via UI

Reply with decisions, e.g.: `1,2 done | 4 cancel | 3 active`
Options: done · active · pending · cancel
Press Enter with no input to skip.

Include the task's first non-empty description line as a subtitle. Use vault_peek(path) per task (cheaper than vault_read — returns preview without full content). If the description section is empty or contains only a template placeholder, omit the subtitle entirely.

Step 5: Parse User Decisions

Wait for user input. Parse leniently:

Input form	Meaning
1,3 done	Tasks 1 and 3 → done
2 active	Task 2 → active
4 cancel or 4 cancelled	Task 4 → cancelled
5 pending	Task 5 → pending (no-op if already pending)
empty / skip	No updates — exit cleanly

Numbers out of range: ignore with a warning. Unrecognised tokens: ignore silently.

Confirm parsed decisions before applying:

"Updating: 1, 3 → done · 4 → cancelled. Proceed? (y/n)"

Step 6: Apply Updates

For each decision, update frontmatter atomically:

vault_update_frontmatter({
  path: "<task-path>",
  fields: { status: "<new-status>" }
})

For tasks marked done, check for an existing completion timestamp before appending:

vault_read({ path: "<task-path>" })

If the note already contains **Completed**, skip. Otherwise:

vault_append({
  path: "<task-path>",
  content: "\n**Completed**: <YYYY-MM-DD>\n"
})

Step 7: Summary

Report what changed:

Updated 3 tasks:
- ✓ implement-semantic-caching → done
- ✓ add-triage-tasks-command → done
- ✗ rename-github-repo → cancelled
Skipped: 2 tasks unchanged.