start-task

Start Task

Start a new task from a Jira ticket. Accepts a TRAIN board ticket ID as input (e.g., TRAIN-456). If no ticket ID is provided, ask: "Which ticket are you starting work on?"

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Step 1: Preflight Checks

Before touching git, verify the environment is safe to start work:

1a. Check for a git repository:

git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree 2>/dev/null || echo "NOT_GIT"

If not in a git repo, stop and report: "Not inside a git repository. Navigate to your project directory first."

1b. Check for a dirty working tree:

git status --porcelain

If there are uncommitted changes, report them and ask: "Your working tree has uncommitted changes. Stash, commit, or discard them before starting a new task?" Do not proceed until the user confirms the tree is clean.

1c. Determine the source-of-truth branch: Default to main. If main doesn't exist, check for master:

git branch -r | grep -E 'origin/(main|master)' | head -1

1d. Pull latest:

git checkout main && git pull origin main

If this fails (e.g., merge conflicts, network error), stop and report the error.

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Step 2: Fetch Ticket Details

Use the Atlassian MCP to fetch the ticket. The Jira cloud ID for datadoghq.atlassian.net is 66c05bee-f5ff-4718-b6fc-81351e5ef659.

Call mcp__plugin_atlassian_atlassian__getJiraIssue with the provided ticket ID.

Extract and display:

• Summary: The ticket title
• Type: Bug / Story / Task / etc.
• Status: Current status
• Priority: If set
• Description: First 300 characters (truncate with "..." if longer)
• Labels: All CET labels
• Epic/Parent: If set
• Acceptance Criteria / Definition of Done: If present in the description or a custom field

If the ticket is not found, report: "Ticket <ID> not found on the TRAIN board. Check the ticket ID and try again."

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Step 3: Generate Branch Name

From the ticket summary, generate a kebab-case branch name:

• Lowercase all words
• Replace spaces and special characters with hyphens
• Remove articles (a, an, the) and filler words
• Keep it under 50 characters total
• Format: <TICKET-ID>-<short-description>

Examples:

• TRAIN-456 "Add dark mode toggle to dashboard" → train-456-dark-mode-dashboard
• TRAIN-123 "Fix NPE in user auth flow" → train-123-fix-npe-user-auth

Check for branch name collision:

git branch -a | grep "<generated-branch-name>"

If the branch already exists locally or remotely, append -2 (or increment) and report to the user.

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Step 4: Create the Branch

git checkout -b <generated-branch-name>

Confirm success:

git branch --show-current

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Step 5: Present Task Summary

Output a structured summary:

## Task Started: <TICKET-ID>

**Branch**: `<branch-name>`
**Ticket**: <TICKET-ID> — <Summary>
**Type**: <Issue Type> | **Priority**: <Priority> | **Status**: <Status>
**Epic**: <Epic name or "None">
**Labels**: <labels or "None">

### What to build
<Description excerpt>

### Definition of Done
<DoD bullets if present, or "See ticket for details">

### Suggested next steps
* Review the full ticket: https://datadoghq.atlassian.net/browse/<TICKET-ID>
* Create an ExecPlan: `mkdir -p ~/workspace/work-artifacts/<TICKET-ID>` then use plan mode (simple tasks) or the ExecPlan template at `~/.claude/templates/PLANS.md` (multi-session work)
* When done: use `commit-push-pr` skill to commit, push, and open a PR

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Error Handling

Situation	Response
Not in git repo	Stop, explain, suggest cd to project
Dirty working tree	Show changes, ask user to resolve first
Ticket not found	Report clearly, check spelling
Branch already exists	Suggest incrementing suffix, ask user
Pull fails	Show error, do not create branch
Atlassian MCP unavailable	Report MCP error, offer to create branch with just the ticket ID