taskmaster

Taskmaster Completion Protocol

Contract

A session is complete ONLY when you emit this exact line on its own line:

TASKMASTER_DONE::<session_id>

If you stop without this signal, the Stop hook will block you and you must continue working.

Completion Checklist

Before emitting the done signal, verify ALL of the following in order:

1. Goal Confrontation (do this FIRST)

Answer these questions explicitly in your response:

• What is the user's stated goal or success criterion? Write it out verbatim.
• Is it achieved RIGHT NOW? Answer "yes" or "no". Not "partially", not "mostly", not "significant progress was made". Yes or no.
• If no: you are NOT DONE. Keep working. The ONLY exception is if the user explicitly told you to stop or deprioritized the goal.

"Diminishing returns", "no single dominant hotspot", "would require broader architectural changes", or any variation of "I made good progress" are NOT valid reasons to stop. These are rationalizations.

2. Request Verification

• Re-read the original user message(s).
• List every discrete request or acceptance criterion.
• Confirm each is FULLY addressed — not just started, FULLY done.
• If the user changed their mind, withdrew a request, or told you to stop or skip something, treat that item as resolved.

3. Task List

• Review every task. Any task not marked completed? Do it now — unless the user indicated it is no longer wanted.

4. Plan Verification

• Walk through each step — INCLUDING verification steps.
• Any step skipped or partially done? Finish it.
• If the plan includes verification steps (builds, tests, lints, type-checks, smoke tests), you MUST execute them and see them pass — do not skip them or claim they pass without running them.

5. Error and Completeness Check

• Did anything fail or remain unfinished? Fix it.
• This applies to ALL types of problems — logic errors, missing functionality, incomplete refactors, broken scripts, configuration issues.
• Any TODO comments, placeholder code, missing tests, untested changes, or follow-ups noted but not acted on? Address them.

6. Blocker Resolution

• If something is blocking you, do NOT give up.
• You have access to a full development environment, a terminal, every tool you need, and the internet. Try a different approach, read more code, search for examples, re-examine your assumptions.
• "I didn't cause this bug" is not an excuse to stop — if it blocks your task, fix it. You own the outcome, not just your diff.

Critical Rules

DO NOT NARRATE — EXECUTE. If incomplete work remains, your ONLY job is to DO that work right now. Do not describe what remains, analyze its complexity, list dependencies, or ask for permission. Open files, write code, run commands, fix bugs. Act.

PROGRESS IS NOT COMPLETION. "I improved X from 1345ms to 866ms" does not satisfy a goal of "<500ms". Describing remaining work with phrases like "would require deeper analysis" is narrating — not doing. If the goal is not met, keep working.

HONESTY CHECK. Before marking anything as "not possible" or "skipped", ask yourself: did you actually TRY? "I can't do X" is almost never true — what you mean is "I haven't tried X yet." Attempt it first.

USER PRIORITY. The user's latest instructions always take priority. If the user said to stop, move on, or skip something, respect that — do not force completion of work the user no longer wants.

Configuration

• TASKMASTER_MAX (env var, default 0): Max stop-blocks before allowing stop. 0 means unlimited — hook keeps firing until done signal is emitted.